Time Travel and Levitation

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The latest updates and plan for the MAGLEV train system, designed to travel from Washington, D.C., to New York City in one hour.

It’s hard to imagine a world where we can get from Washington, D.C., to New York City in an hour. On most days, pre-COVID-19, we can’t even get from Annapolis to the nation’s capital in that amount of time. Enter the MAGLEV—the closest thing to time travel we may ever see in our lifetime. 

What is MAGLEV?

What we call the MAGLEV is known as the SCMAGLEV, which stands for superconducting magnetic levitation. And in a sense, that translates to time travel and levitation. 

The Superconducting MAGLEV is the world’s fastest ground transportation system, with the potential to reach speeds of more than 300 miles per hour, which translates into that one-hour trip from Washington, D.C., to New York City. 

Surprisingly, this technology is not a new concept. The idea of MAGLEV trains is credited to James Powell and Gordon Danby, who pioneered the early technology in the late 1960s at the Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, New York. According to the Department of Energy, Powell came up with the idea as he, you guessed it, sat in a traffic jam. From that traffic jam, Powell came up with the idea of using superconducting magnets to levitate a train car. 

In MAGLEV, superconducting magnets suspend a train car above a U-shaped concrete guideway, according to the Department of Energy. Like ordinary magnets, these magnets repel one another when matching poles face each other.

There are currently no Superconducting MAGLEVs in the United States, but the planned project connecting Washington, D.C., to New York City would be the first. 

Project Status 

Right now, the project is still years away from completion but now is a good time to get up to speed and stay informed. There are a few key players when it comes to the MAGLEV coming to Maryland. First, there is the Northeast MAGLEV, which is a company headquartered in Maryland and is focused on getting the SCMAGLEV built from Washington, D.C., to New York City. Northeast MAGLEV says this northeast corridor is the most congested transportation region in the country.

“The route currently under consideration as part of the NEPA [National Environmental Policy Act] process would include three [Maryland region] stops—one in Washington, D.C., one at BWI Airport, and one in Baltimore City,” says Alex Jackson, director of marketing and communications for Northeast MAGLEV.  “Ultimately, our goal is to extend service all the way to New York City. Stops beyond Baltimore would include Wilmington, Philadelphia Airport, Philadelphia, Newark Airport, and New York.”

Public sector players in the Baltimore-Washington Superconducting MAGLEV Project include the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Railroad Administration, Maryland Department of Transportation, Maryland Economic Development Corporation, and Baltimore-Washington Rapid Rail. This group is currently evaluating environmental impacts, conducting studies on best route options, and holding public meetings on the project. 

Environmental Impacts

The Federal Railroad Administration and MDOT are working to complete environmental and engineering studies for the proposed stations. Where exactly these the potential stations could go, how they are built, and access to the stations could all have potential effects on the surrounding areas, which the FRA and MDOT are tasked with reviewing and analyzing.

The FRA and MDOT are looking at more than just the stations. They are considering support facilities, train maintenance facilities, substations, and emergency access, all elements that will be evaluated for engineering feasibility and potential environmental impact to the surrounding areas. 

“The Draft Environmental Impact Statement will be available to the public in early 2021, as soon as January 15,” Jackson says. “A Final Environmental Impact Statement/Record of Decision will be made in early 2022, according to the current NEPA schedule.”

Northeast MAGLEV is eager to get started on the project. “While the project is still undergoing the permitting process, we would like to see the first leg, from Washington, D.C., to BWI to Baltimore, in service by the end of the decade,” Jackson says. “Construction will last approximately seven years.”

Economic Impacts

A project of this magnitude will bring along substantial economic benefits. Northeast MAGLEV projects that the project will bring 74,000 construction jobs to Maryland with 1,500 jobs annually after the MAGLEV is up and running. Maryland can also expect to see a financial boost with Northeast MAGLEV estimating $6.5 billion from construction and $268 million annually after the project is completed. 

The Cost and Control of MAGLEV

Currently, there is no direct taxpayer cost for the MAGLEV project. The Baltimore-Washington Superconducting MAGLEV Project has received a $27.8 million federal grant. This grant is used to perform a NEPA study to look at the environmental impacts of building the MAGLEV. The NEPA study is a congressional mandate.

Baltimore Washington Rapid Rail has released construction estimates for the MAGLEV. Right now, those estimates stand at $10 billion to $15 billion, but that can change when it is decided how and where the MAGLEV will be built. This information will be documented in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement. 

Once the MAGLEV opens, it begs the question, who will operate this levitating, high speed, train? 

It is expected that a U.S. operating entity will be created to control the SCMAGLEV according to Northeast MAGLEV. Operating standards and procedures will be based on the Central Japan Railway Company according to Northeast MAGLEV. The Central Japan Railway Company is the owner of the SCMAGLEV in Japan, which is credited with being the safest and most traveled high-speed rail line in the world. 

Do We Really Need a MAGLEV?

For many, a commute to D.C. or Baltimore is part of our everyday lives and, if you can recall a time before COVID-19, that could easily mean sitting in traffic. The need for better transportation along the northeast corridor has been the topic of discussion for more than 50 years according to Northeast MAGLEV, whose studies show there is a demand for safe, high-speed travel of all kinds. 

You may think that ticket prices will be astronomical, but Northeast MAGLEV says that they expect ticket prices to be competitive with those of express rail services for similar trips on the corridor. With this sort of travel, there could be new possibilities for employment as well. 

Kirkland Murray, the president and chief executive office of the Anne Arundel Workforce Development Corporation says that being able to pull talent from throughout the Mid-Atlantic could mean good things for filling jobs in our region.

“It allows us to market our region broader to get talent,” Murray suggests. “We can attract talent as far away as New York and it will still be a reasonable commute to Anne Arundel County. This will allow us to bring in more talent to fill some of the jobs we need to fill.”

On the flip side, Murray says it also offers opportunity for those who live in Anne Arundel county to find distant work in their fields. 

“Our current residents can get more high paying jobs. Looking at finance jobs, if you have someone who wants to live in Baltimore County of Central Maryland but wants to have a finance job in New York, they could do that.”

Murray believes that not only will the MAGLEV bring jobs in the long term but that some of the short-term construction jobs will have lasting positive impacts.

“You’re talking about more than 70,000 jobs to build this project. These are going to be great opportunities for Anne Arundel County residents to get these jobs and build these skills,” Murray says. “Someone can start an apprenticeship and leave as a journeyman. So even when the project is gone, you now have someone who has been trained, that can continue to work, that can continue to make a good wage with those skills.”

Okay, but is it Safe?

With speeds topping more than 300 miles per hour, safety is a concern for travelers. The SCMAGLEV is one of the safest transportation systems in the world according to Northeast MAGLEV. They say the train travels in a completely dedicated guideway, thereby eliminating the possibility of collisions with freight or other types of passenger vehicles. The dedicated system approach is based upon the Tokaido Shinkansen “bullet train” operation in Japan, which has not experienced any passenger injuries due to train accidents such as derailments or collisions during its 50-plus years of service.

“The Northeast Maglev is a project that will rely on proven technology to build a 311-mph superconducting maglev train that complements existing networks and re-energizes the aging Northeast Corridor,” Jackson says. “The project will play a key role in helping our economy get back on track in the wake of COVID-19 by creating 74,000 construction jobs, 1,500 permanent jobs, and providing a shot in the arm to the state’s GDP. It will change the lives of millions of people in our area as we recapture the estimated 102 hours per year Washington drivers waste in traffic delays.”

Make Your Voice Heard

The Baltimore-Washington Superconducting MAGLEV project encourages your involvement. Visit their website www.bwmaglev.info to find out when upcoming next public meetings will be held, view and comment on maps, and sign up for email updates. 

Online Resources: bwmaglev.info; northeastmaglev.com; energy.gov/articles/how-maglev-works