Maglev Washington - Baltimore: Is there a relevant potential?

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Eurorapid
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Maglev Washington - Baltimore: Is there a relevant potential?

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The potential for a linear line project with a cost exceeding 1 trillion yen?

Rough / automated English translation of a Japanese comment by Keiichiro Otsuka on the Baltimore - Washington Maglev Project (Japanese perspective).
Original text: https://www.risvel.com/column/1023 Accessed: 2021-08-07
If JR Tokai, which is constructing the Linear Central Shinkansen (between Shinagawa, Tokyo and Nagoya), grants its technology to build a superconducting linear line between Washington, the capital of the United States (U.S.), and Baltimore, Maryland, the project cost will be around $10 billion to $12 billion (about 1.11 trillion to 1.33 trillion yen). It is estimated that the cost of the project will be around $10-12 billion (about 1.11-1.33 trillion yen). What are the chances of realizing the "super express of dreams" using the most advanced technology? Also, how much of an economic effect can be expected from connecting Baltimore, which has the fourth highest rate of violent crime in the United States?

According to the concept of a linear line connecting Washington and Baltimore, the aim is to link the two cities, which are about 60 kilometers apart, in 15 minutes. In Washington, the starting point would be Mount Vernon Square, which is connected to the Yellow Line and Green Line of the Washington Metro subway system, while Baltimore is considering establishing a station at Camden Yards in the center of the city or at Cherry Hill to the south.
 The Penn Line of MARC, a suburban railroad under the jurisdiction of the Maryland Department of Transportation, [...] connects Washington Union Station with Penn Station in the center of Baltimore in about an hour, so the travel time will be reduced by about a quarter.
 The linear line is also planned to have an intermediate station near the Baltimore-Washington International Airport (BWI Airport). If this is realized, it will be possible to connect Baltimore in about 5 minutes and Washington in about 10 minutes.


Will users choose linear?

 [...] BWI attracts passengers because its air tickets are generally cheaper than those of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, which is located near the center of Washington.
 Thus, it can be said that many of the passengers at BWI Airport are budget-conscious consumers. In spite of this, they are willing to pay higher fares to save time, overriding the next-generation streetcar (LRT), the MARC Penn Line, Amtrak, or the MARC Penn Line and Amtrak trains that connect to Washington Union Station in less than 30 minutes from downtown Baltimore. In the case of the Yamanashi Linear Test Line, it will take about 15 minutes to reach the station.

[...]

What is the purpose of going to Baltimore?
 Given that Baltimore is a medium-sized city with an estimated population of 593,490 as of July 2019 (according to the Department of Commerce), it is questionable how much demand there will be.
 On the other hand, a 15-minute commute each way would be an easy commute. Is there a possibility that the government employees who are gathering in Washington will move to Baltimore? When I asked a transportation industry insider, he said that even if a linear line were to open, "unless the problems of Baltimore, such as poor security and the loss of vitality due to the hollowing out of the city, are resolved, there will be limited demand for housing.
 Neighborhood Scout, a real estate information website, ranked the city fourth in its 2021 ranking of the most dangerous cities in the U.S., which covers cities with a population of 25,000 or more.
 The city has a violent crime rate of 19.0 murders and robberies per 1,000 residents, which means that one out of every 53 residents is at risk of being involved in a violent crime. This is much higher than the overall rate of 4.54 per capita in Maryland. Overshadowed by public safety issues, which are the lifeline of our lives, Baltimore is not an attractive residential area.

[...]

Baltimore has a limited number of tourist attractions that can attract visitors. Certainly, the Inner Harbor area in the center of the city has many attractions, and the Oriole Park at Camden Yards, home of the Baltimore Orioles, a baseball team in the American League, has a strong presence.
 There is also the National Aquarium, where nocturnal sharks such as the tiger shark, which lives in the Indo-Pacific region, are bred, and the Maryland Science Museum, where dinosaur skeletons can be seen. However, most of these are tourist facilities that Marylanders visit on day trips. There is no need to take a linear train from Washington, D.C., because you can visit them by car or by public transportation that is currently running.

[...]
 In this way, the necessity of the Washington-Baltimore linear project is questionable, and the economic benefits do not seem to be worth the investment of more than 1 trillion yen.
Rough English translation of a Japanese comment on the Baltimore - Washington Maglev Project (Japanese perspective).
Original text: Keiichiro Otsuka https://www.risvel.com/column/1023 Accessed: 2021-08-07
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Maglev Washington - Baltimore review paused

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A federal agency has paused its review of the high-speed maglev train that’s proposed to link Baltimore and Washington with a 15-minute ride and eventually extend to New York.
Source: https://twitter.com/capgaznews/status/1 ... 21410?s=20 Accessed 2021-09-93
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Feds Pause Review of High-Speed Train from D.C. to Baltimore

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Feds Pause Review of High-Speed Train from D.C. to Baltimore
The Federal Railroad Administration has paused its review of the high-speed maglev train that’s proposed to link Baltimore and Washington with a 15-minute ride and eventually extend to New York.

[...]

The Federal Railroad Administration said it has no timeline for completion of environmental planning for the Baltimore-Washington Superconducting Magnetic Levitation project, though the process still is ongoing. The update appeared Aug. 25 on the agency’s website.

The FRA update came a week before a Baltimore Circuit Court judge dismissed the maglev operator’s eminent domain case seeking to condemn waterfront land in Westport for a Baltimore station.

“FRA looks forward to sharing the revised project [environmental impact statement] schedule when it is determined,” an agency spokesman said.

[...]

The agency said it has stopped drafting the required impact statement and will instead review “project elements,” and determine next steps. Project elements can include areas such as project planning and funding but also specific areas such as environmental justice.

It is not unusual for environmental reviews of complex projects to be put on hold while agencies seek more information, do additional analysis and review public comments. The agency, conducting the review with the state Department of Transportation, released a draft impact statement in January and took public comments through May.

Baltimore-Washington Rapid Rail, which has been working on the maglev project for years, is forging ahead with planning, CEO Wayne Rogers said.

The federal agency’s decision to hit pause is not significant and “happens with projects of this size,” Rogers said in an email.

“The FRA is evaluating issues presented by groups that submitted comments ... to see what is required next,” he said. “It should be noted that the majority of people that testified at the hearings and the majority of people that submitted comments were POSITIVE and in support of the project.”

But the interruption in the process marks the second potential setback for the rail project in recent weeks after the Baltimore judge dismissed Baltimore-Washington Rapid Rail’s case seeking the Westport land owned by Sparks-based developer Stonewall Capital. The railroad operator, which says the property is essential to build either of two routes alongside the Baltimore-Washington Parkway without condemning any houses, plans to appeal the ruling.

“The FRA putting a hold on this process again just reiterates how far away their project truly is from coming to fruition,” Ray Jackson, a Stonewall principal, said in an email Thursday. “The ONE Westport development team will continue to work diligently to ensure our project stays on track and delivers what we have proffered to the community and city of Baltimore including the public park and accessible waterfront area.”

[...]
Source: https://www.govtech.com/fs/feds-pause-r ... -baltimore Accessed: 2021-09-04
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Re: Maglev Washington - Baltimore: Is there a relevant potential?

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The rail agency’s decision to pause its review was posted to the “permitting dashboard” established to help the public track federal infrastructure projects.

It came after the agency received 4,000 comments during a public feedback period.

The decision gives the agency the opportunity to review the complex project in more detail, address concerns about it, and consult with other agencies.

“FRA looks forward to sharing the revised project [environmental impact statement, or EIS] schedule when it is determined,” a spokesperson said in an email.

The proposed rail line has stirred both supporters and critics. It has the potential to speed travel between the two cities, creating jobs, taking cars off the road and boosting air travel at Thurgood Marshall BWI Airport.

Opponents cite neighborhood impacts, potential park and property loss, high ticket costs, failure risk and jarring vibrations.
Source: Bruce DePuyt, September 3, 2021 https://wtop.com/local/2021/09/federal- ... -proposal/ Accessed: 2021-09-24
2021-09-04 Chuo Linear Maglev Yamanashi L0
2021-09-04 Chuo Linear Maglev Yamanashi L0
Source: https://wtop.com/local/2021/09/federal- ... -proposal/ Accessed: 2021-09-24
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Maglev Washington - Baltimore: How To Improve U.S. Passenger Rail

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How To Improve U.S. Passenger Rail
By Scott Beyer
The Northeast Maglev is a plan to build a high-speed magnetic levitation train from Washington, D.C. to New York, with an initial phase spanning from the nation’s capital to Baltimore. Nearly two-thirds of this first phase would be tunneled.

The project, which has been proposed for several years, would be similar to the Chuo Shinkansen project underway in Japan. Undertaken to relieve capacity constraints on the existing high-speed line, the project’s first phase is slated to open in 2027, and when cmplete will connect Tokyo and Osaka in just over an hour. The project will not be cheap—the final cost is projected at $52 billion—but that is partly because it’s being built through mountains.

Along with local Nimby opposition, Amtrak has been critical of the Northeast Maglev proposal; Amtrak’s CEO argued before Congress that the service would be only for the wealthy, and others have argued that it detracts from the more urgent need of upgrading existing lines. Yet the larger issue there may be Amtrak’s own high costs and unnecessary proposed upgrades.
Source: https://catalyst.independent.org/2021/1 ... rail-pt-2/ Accessed: 2021-10-23
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