U.S. considers launching maglev train

PHOTO of high speed train courtesy of SCMAGLEV.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has pledged to provide several billion dollars in financing to partially fund the first leg of the project, which would connect Washington to Baltimore in about 15 minutes.

The Maryland’s Department of Transportation and the state’s Economic Development Corporation expects that the Japanese government and private group Baltimore-Washington Rapid Rail would also support the project.

On Friday (Nov. 6), the Federal Railroad Administration awarded Maryland’s state government .8 million to study the costs and other feasibility issues. The train reached a record 603 kilometers an hour during a test run in Yamanashi prefecture in April.

Northeast Maglev, the company working to build the line between Washington and Baltimore, told ABC the project is expected to cost more than $10 billion and would use technology provided by Central Japan Railway Company. Specific areas of cooperation outlined in the Memorandum of Cooperation included: high-speed rail, specifically SCMaglev; liquefied natural gas (LNG); life sciences; trade and investment; and academics.

The technology “will be a great asset to the busy Northeast Corridor, ” Japanese Ambassador Kenichiro Sasae said, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Transportation leaders from Japan and the United States agreed Monday to collaborate on cutting-edge transportation technology.

“The SCMaglev project has the opportunity to transform not only Baltimore but the entire Northeast corridor”, said Wayne Rogers, chairman and chief executive officer for Baltimore-Washington Rapid Rail.

The money will go toward planning and engineering analysis for the high-speed rail line, which could carry passengers from Washington to Baltimore in as little as 15 minutes.