Maglev

The long-talked-about dream of a super-speed, 16-minute rail link between Baltimore and Washington seemed closer than ever just a month ago, when the Clinton administration was poised to announce at least one finalist among seven regions bidding to build a prototype. Maryland's pitch for a $3.8 billion dollar magnetic levitation train has been a solid favorite, trumpeted as an asset even in the region's bid for the 2012 Olympics. But now, with little more than a week of Clinton's term remaining, bureaucrats have yet to choose from among the contenders.

After decades of hopeful talk, plans for the proposed Baltimore-to-Washington high-speed train may finally be pulling out of the station.An appropriations bill signed into law this week by President Bush contains $12 million for research on the futuristic passenger trains, $500,000 of it earmarked for a feasibility study of the Baltimore-Washington route inserted by Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md.On Monday, Baltimore Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke appointed a panel to promote the plan. And a state official says Gov. William Donald Schaefer will include some initial funding for the project in his budget request in January.

The six Republican candidates vying for three seats representing District 32 in the House of Delegates probably wouldn't have much to discuss in a debate over one of the biggest local issues. They oppose maglev, the high-speed train proposed to connect Washington and Baltimore that would likely run through parts of the district if it were built. They talk about fixing the education system statewide, one way or another. Most agree that a top priority for whomever takes the seat should be reducing the $1 billion deficit the state faces.

The idea of boarding a high-speed floating train in downtown Baltimore and zooming to Washington in 18 minutes flat is tantalizing - for its novelty, its speed and its potential to closely link the two cities. But a magnetic levitation train would cost $4.4 billion to build and $48 to ride round trip. State lawmakers are now asking: Who would pay that? "It's out of reach for the average working man and woman in this corridor," said Del. John R. Leopold of Pasadena, a leader of the anti-maglev movement.

An MIT professor preached revolution in Baltimore this week -- a revolution that, he said, would slash U.S. energy consumption, reduce pollution and ease gridlock.Richard D. Thornton, an electrical engineering teacher and adviser to the U.S. Senate's Public Works Committee, said the country should build a nationwide network of magnetic levitation, or maglev, systems -- trains that fly an inch or so above their monorail-style tracks on a cushion of magnetism at speeds in excess of 300 mph.The technology was invented in the United States during the 1960s, and a version was developed by Mr. Thornton and a group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who built and tested a working-scale model in 1974.

An article in yesterday's Business section about a proposed magnetic levitation railroad incorrectly named a founder of the B&O Railroad. The founder was Charles Carroll.The Sun regrets the errors.ANNAPOLIS -- John Carroll, one of the founders of the nation's first commercial railroad in 1832, understandably could not make it to the House Ways and Means Committee yesterday to testify about magnetic levitation rail.So one of his descendants took up the charge."Primarily because of this historic confluence, we have the opportunity to create a basic transportation system in Maryland again," said Richard Carroll Kauffman, a Baltimore resident and distant relative of the 19th century politician who helpedstart the B&O Railroad in Baltimore.

Maglev, as proposed, can't be successful Having attended several meetings about Maglev over the past year, I read with interest both articles on the Maglev coming through Howard County (April 24 and 27). While it amused me to no end to learn that the Rouse Company is wearing the NIMBY hat quite proudly, I also have to disagree with U.S. Senator Barbara Mikulski and Delegate John Glanetti in supporting this project. If I were to look into the future right now, as Delegate Glanetti suggested, what I'd see is Maryland making an extraordinary monetary commitment to fund a train that will not work unless it is connected to major cities from Boston, to Charlotte, N.C. To my knowledge, states along this route have not committed to Maglev.

An incomplete map accompanied an article Tuesday in the Maryland section on a feasibility study of a prototype 300-mph magnetic levitation train. These are the four alternative routes for a regional maglev system, a project that currently lacks federal support.

NEW YORK -- A group of 23 Japanese companies seeking to hasten the development of high-speed passenger railroads in the United States is asking the Bush administration to support a joint U.S.-Japanese effort to design and build the first system in Pennsylvania rather than the Baltimore-Washington corridor.The group, which includes some of Japan's largest industrial conglomerates and banks, contends there is sufficient need for such a system in the United States to ease already clogged urban transportation networks.

Gov. William Donald Schaefer has temporarily derailed effort to lure to Maryland a multimillion dollar prototype for a magnetic levitation train route.So-called maglev trains are designed to ride on a cushion of magnetism and travel at speeds of 300 miles per hour or higher. They have so far only operated on test tracks in Europe and Japan.Page Boinest, the governor's press secretary, said yesterday that Mr. Schaefer wants to see greater support of existing forms of mass transit from the state's business community before he approves the state's $200,000 share of a proposed study.