It’s official. The remaining routes to build a new SCMaglev (super-conducting magnetic levitation) rail line are the two alternates that run through the City of Greenbelt. This is the conclusion of the recently released Federal Railway Administration (FRA)-Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) Preliminary Alternatives Screening Report January 2018. The two alternatives, J and J1, are proposed to run from the District of Columbia through and under Bladensburg, Lanham, New Carrollton and Greenbelt before emerging somewhere in or north of Greenbelt and somewhat following on either the east or west side of the Baltimore-Washington Parkway. A stop is planned at the Baltimore-Washington International Airport and the routes continue on to the maglev’s destination in Baltimore. The only other alternative under consideration is the standard No Build.
This preliminary report is part of an Environmental Impact Study (EIS) being conducted by the MDOT and funded mostly by the U.S. Department of Transportation FRA and partially by private interests, in particular the Baltimore Washington Rapid Rail, LLC. The study, which has many other phases, is not expected to be completed until December 2019.
Read more of this story in the February 8 News Review