Last Friday, March 4, the Maryland Court of Special Appeals ruled in favor of Baltimore Washington Rapid Rail (BWRR), the developer of the proposed high-speed magnetic levitation train line planned to run between Baltimore and Washington, D.C. It said that Circuit Court Judge Kendra Ausby erred when she prevented BWRR from condemning 43 acres of land in the Westport neighborhood in south Baltimore. The waterfront property is privately owned. BWRR wants the land for either of two potential routes alongside the Baltimore-Washington Parkway.
According to the Special Appeals Court, BWRR would need condemnation approval from the Baltimore City Council only if it pertained to public roads or rights-of-way. The Court of Special Appeals said that BWRR got condemnation power when it acquired the former Washington, Baltimore and Annapolis Electric Railroad Co. franchise in 2015.
The court did not agree with another aspect of Ausby’s ruling, when she denied condemnation power to BWRR because maglev is not a train. Even though it has wheels that lift like that of a plane, maglev is to be considered a train. The case returns to the Circuit Court which must decide whether the statute of limitations has expired for BWRR to acquire the property through eminent domain. It has been more than four years since the Baltimore City Council approved the transfer of the railroad franchise to BWRR.