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August 4, 2025|Regulatory

FRA Cancels $26MM in Funds for DC-Baltimore SCMAGLEV Project

Written by Carolina Worrell, Senior Editor
(FRA image)
(FRA image)
The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) on Aug. 1 announced that it will cancel two grants totaling more than $26 million for the Baltimore-Washington, D.C., Superconducting Magnetic Levitation (SCMAGLEV) Project, due to what U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy calls the project’s “poor planning, significant community opposition, and tremendous cost overruns.”

As part of its analysis, the FRA also determined the project “would result in significant, unresolvable impacts to federal agencies and federal property, including national security agencies.”

The SCMAGLEV Project was proposed to be a high-speed rail project using superconducting magnetic levitation technology between Baltimore, Maryland, and Washington, D.C. The estimated capital cost to build this project is nearly $20 billion, according to the FRA, whose involvement in the project dates back to 2016 and has “experienced numerous delays and cost overruns,” during that time.

Since the grant was obligated in 2016, the environmental review process has been paused twice on the Federal Permitting Dashboard. It remained on pause from Aug. 2021 until today.

In addition, the FRFA says “indirect effects of this project would also impair critical infrastructure and ongoing agency missions.” Government agencies harmed by this project would have included: the National Security Agency, U.S. Department of Defense and Fort George G. Meade, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, U.S Department of Agriculture, U.S. Secret Service, U.S. Department of Interior – Fish and Wildlife Service and National Park Service, and the U.S. Department of Labor, according to the agency.

Rescission of the NOI, the FRA adds, does not prevent the future deployment of MAGLEV technology in the U.S.