D.C. warns a maglev stop at Mount Vernon Square would bring disruption

The Washington Post Bezos Adware Farm ^ | January 25, 2021 | Luz Lazo

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

Construction for a maglev train line that would take passengers from Washington to Baltimore in 15 minutes could alter a D.C. neighborhood and affect nearby properties for years, District officials said Monday.

A maglev station in the Mount Vernon Square area has the potential to change the character of the neighborhood and bring “substantial construction and long-term operational implications on nearby properties,” Andrew Trueblood, director of the D.C. Office of Planning, said in a statement that urged residents and city leaders to engage in the federal review of the multibillion-dollar project.

The 40-mile “superconducting magnetic levitation train system,” commonly called a maglev, is planned as the first leg of a system that would carry passengers from Washington to New York in an hour. D.C. leaders are urging public engagement during the planning process, but the city has not officially taken a position on the project.

Proponents of the project say a maglev could ease travel along congested Interstate 95 by adding rail capacity to the Northeast Corridor — the nation’s busiest rail network. The technology, being tested in Japan, would also revolutionize train travel in the country and operate separately from existing railroad lines.

The maglev would travel at 311 mph, project officials said.

Building the D.C.-Baltimore stretch could cost between $14 billion and $16 billion, according to a recent report by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), which is leading the federal environmental review for the project. The planned line would make three stops: one in each city and at Baltimore-Washington International Marshall Airport.

The FRA is on pace to select a preferred route and issue a final recommendation for the project that could give crews clearance to begin tunneling as early as next year and begin operations in 2030.

[trebb]

I kind of wish more trains were maglev - then pictures wouldn’t rattle on the walls when they went by.

[BobL]

“Building the D.C.-Baltimore stretch could cost between $14 billion and $16 billion”

Thanks Tol. Wow, for 40 miles? That’s some serious money, but what the hell, I guess, why not - the money isn’t real anyway?

[Viking2002]

Correct. The DC metro area I remember from 35 years ago no longer exists. The sprawl has overgrown once rural areas like kudzu. To my recollection, it started in earnest in the mid 90's when Slick Willie was in office. I can't even find some of the places I lived and worked anymore. Half of it has been razed and something bigger put in it's place. Farmland in the exburbs between DC and Baltimore is now seas of office parks and townhouses.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

Makes the Intercounty Connector (about $3 billion for 18 miles of road, once the bonds are paid off, IIRC) look like a piker.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

Montgomery County still has its agricultural preserve area, although I’m not sure how much of that is still actual farmland, vs. how much is actually just large estates, such as you see on Route 97 north of Olney.

[Kickass Conservative]

My point was why use expensive Maglev (is there even one daily operational Maglev Train operating in the USA?) when building Conventional Rail is cheaper and a proven Technology?

My guess is the Elitist DC Dwellers want the very best in modern technology. The rest of us saps can ride Busses and Criminal Infested Subways.