The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) recently announced it plans to cancel two grants worth more than $26 million that previously were awarded to the Baltimore-Washington Superconducting Magnetic Levitation (SCMAGLEV) Project.
The nearly $20 billion project would have constructed a high-speed rail between Baltimore, and Washington, D.C., that operates using superconducting magnetic levitation technology.
The project has experienced numerous delays and cost overruns since the FRA became involved in 2016, and the environmental review process has been paused twice on the Federal Permitting Dashboard. The last pause was instituted in August 2021.
“We want big, beautiful projects worthy of taxpayer dollars – including high-speed rail,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy said. “This project lacked everything needed to be a success from planning to execution. This project did not have the means to go the distance, and I can’t in good conscience keep taxpayers on the hook for it. We’ll continue to look for exciting opportunities to fund the future of transportation and encourage innovation.”
The FRA, as part of its analysis, determined the project would result in significant, unresolvable impacts to federal agencies and federal property and would indirectly impair critical infrastructure and ongoing agency missions.
The decision does not prevent the future deployment of the technology.