FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, January 18, 2001
Contact: Yvette Lester
Telephone: 202-493-6024
FRA 02-01
U.S. Secretary of Transportation Slater Selects Two High Speed Maglev Projects
U.S. Secretary of Transportation Rodney E. Slater today announced the selection of two projects in Maryland and Pennsylvania to be advanced into the next phase of the competition to build and demonstrate the first magnetically levitated (maglev) high-speed train system in revenue service in the United States.
"It has been extremely difficult to select from all of the meritorious projects, but we must now focus the remaining effort and funding on the Maryland and Pennsylvania projects, the ones best positioned for early demonstration of Maglev’s promise," said Secretary Slater.
Citing the Clinton-Gore administration’s commitment to making high-speed rail a reality across the nation, Secretary Slater also noted that today’s announcement follows on his October 18 announcement that the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) had approved high-speed service for Amtrak’s Acela Express on the Northeast Corridor (NEC), and an October 11 announcement designating two new high-speed rail corridors in northern New England and the South Central states.
A competition was initiated in May 1999, with the selection of seven projects to receive planning funds and participate in a competition. After intensive planning and design efforts by the sponsors of the seven participating projects, and evaluation of each project by multi-disciplined DOT staff, the Secretary selected the two projects. In the next phase, each project team will refine its estimates of ridership revenue and cost and its financial plan, strengthen the financial commitments of its sponsors, and begin work on a site specific environmental assessment. $14 million will be available for these purposes. On the basis of the new information resulting from these efforts, the Department of Transportation would then be in a position to select a single project which would be eligible for a grant of $950 million in federal funding authorized for construction under Section 1218 of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21), and subject to appropriation by the Congress. The selected projects are:
Baltimore, Maryland to Washington DC: A 40-mile project linking Camden Yard in Baltimore (a sports complex and center for recreation and tourism) and Baltimore-Washington International (BWI) Airport to Union Station in Washington, D.C. This project has been under study since 1994. The project sponsors also see this as providing rapid transportation between sports venues for winning a bid for the 2012 Olympics.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: A 47-mile project linking Pittsburgh Airport to Pittsburgh and its eastern suburbs. The project has been under study since 1990 and is backed by a coalition of state and local agencies, labor unions, and members of the Pittsburgh community. Maglev Inc., the organization that would develop the project sees it as not only a transportation system for commuters and air travelers, but also as a platform for bringing precision steel fabrication technology used in construction of the guideway to the Pittsburgh region.
The Secretary strongly encouraged the remainder of the projects, those in California, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, and Nevada to continue to develop their plans and seek alternative sources of financing. To assist them, each of these projects is slated to receive almost $1 million in federal funds, as specified by Congress in the FY 2001 appropriation.
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