Top officials with the firm looking to bring “the fastest trains in the world” to Maryland encountered resistance from members of the Legislative Black Caucus on Thursday, as lawmakers expressed concern that the proposed Baltimore to Washington, D.C., maglev train would cut through, but not serve, the communities they represent.
And legislators sharply challenged company claims that residents in the effected communities support construction of the high-speed transit link.
Despite the resistance, officials from Baltimore Washington Rapid Rail insisted, at a half-hour briefing, that the proposed line represented “an opportunity to grow into a better future” in which people move more quickly and thousands of jobs are created.
“We have a highway system that’s broken,” said David Henley, project director for Baltimore Washington Rapid Rail. “It’s very expensive. It’s very polluting. Our rail system was originally built over 100 years ago and we keep tweaking it. But the infrastructure is outmoded.”
The solution, he said, is a new system in which rail cars held in place by magnets “levitate” on a cushion of air. The proposed Baltimore to D.C. line, which would include a stop at BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport, would travel at 311 miles per hour, allowing travelers to get from one city to the other in 15 minutes, at a price Henley said would be “competitive” with other service in the corridor.
Click here to read the rest of the article written by Bruce DePuyt over at Maryland Matters