After nearly a decade of pushing back against the proposed construction of a Superconducting Magnetic Levitation (SCMagLev) rail system between Washington and Baltimore, Prince George’s County residents, leaders and environmental activists alike have seen their hard work pay off with the project’s cessation.
To celebrate their victory, those who opposed the maglev gathered at the Greenbelt American Legion Post 136 on Sept. 15.
“It becomes rare where we actually defeat the machine,” said Maryland Sen. Alonzo T. Washington at the event. “We defeated this machine and defeated this train, and we stopped it.”
The proposed project, formally introduced in 2016, was developed by the Baltimore-Washington Rapid Rail (BWRR) and promoted by the Northeast Maglev (TNEM). It was intended to be part of the larger project to connect the District to New York City by way of Philadelphia. Its construction would have cost $10 billion.
This project would have featured a 40-mile high-speed, magnetically powered rail system capable of reaching speeds of up to 311 miles per hour, and transporting passengers from the District to Baltimore in approximately 15 minutes. The SCMagLev system would have primarily run underground and had three stops– one in each city and another at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI).
“There wasn’t even going to be a stop in Prince George’s,” Maryland state Del. Joseline Peña-Melnyk told The Informer. “So we’re going to have that impact… and [the maglev] is going to disrupt the neighborhoods and the communities, and there’s not going to be any benefit.”
Community members and their elected officials opposed the project because it could have harmed wildlife and green spaces, and potentially led to the removal of homes, businesses, and historic sites.
“It’s not the right time or place for that project,” Greenbelt Council Member Jenni Pompi told The Informer. “It’s really important if you do a project on that scale, that it’s going to serve the community, and that project is not going to serve the community in anything.”
Residents Reject the Maglev Plan
Maglev rail systems feature trains that levitate above the track, made possible by either electromagnetic attraction or repulsion. The absence of wheels on a rail means there’s a lack of friction between the train and its track, allowing these vehicles to reach speeds traditional trains can’t achieve.
Since no fuel is burned with the operation of maglev trains, they cause little to no air pollution, making them more environmentally friendly than conventional rail systems. Even still, the construction of one of these systems in the Washington Metropolitan Area requires the presence of a trainyard aboveground for storage and maintenance.
Such a plan would have been environmentally unsuitable as it required the potential paving of 187 acres of the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center and the destruction of 24 acres in the Patuxent Research Refuge.
“This landscape of protected government parklands and research centers is large enough to support and retain almost all the biodiversity that was once, but is no longer, found across the Baltimore-Washington region,” the Maryland Coalition for Responsible Transit (MCRT) wrote in one of many papers outlining the effects the SCMagLev would have on the area.
Aside from cutting through land that is indispensable for the area’s ecosystem, the presence of a maglev would cause an increase in noise pollution, air pollution and energy consumption.
According to the Federal Railroad Administration’s (FRA) 2021 draft of the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), transportation energy consumption in the region would increase by 39% with the operation of a maglev system. According to the National Parks Conservation Association, that is “enough energy to power 88,900 homes.” Since the region’s increased energy demand has already caused surges in utility bills, environmental advocates note such an increase does not seem ideal.
“[The maglev] would have destroyed a large part of what’s very important in our community,” said Greenbelt resident Kristin Fletcher, a member of the MCRT and the Greenbelt Forest Preserve. “We could have very well ended up left holding the bag on this multi-billion dollar project and been left with nothing but destruction.”
Fletcher is one of many community members who opposed the maglev’s construction. The belief that the project would only bring devastation to the area is what propelled her and others to continue fighting until they reached their desired outcome.
“It takes a long time to win,” Fletcher told The Informer. “It’s all in the strength of your coalition and the people behind you. The broader and more committed your coalition, the better your chances are.”
From Advocacy to Action: ‘Your Voice is Basically All You Have‘
Hyattsville resident and president of the Woodlawn Community Association, Ina Fells, has opposed the project since the first day she heard about it in 2017.
A member of her church brought the BWRR’s plans to her attention, telling Fells her home could be one of the ones affected by the rail’s potential construction.
After hearing this, Fells started to grow concerned about insurance coverage for any damages that may affect her home, the possibility of the state taking her house under eminent domain and any risks to her health that the rail system’s construction and operation may cause.
“One thing about us seniors, you start talking about our homes that we worked hard to pay for and retire to comfortably… We’re going to come out fighting,” Fells told The Informer. “We’re coming out with our gloves on.”
Fells said the victory has fired the community up, inspiring many to continue standing up and speaking out against projects and developments that could harm the region and its residents.
The halting of the maglev project is one of two major environmental wins Prince George’s residents and officials experienced recently, as development for the proposed Landover Data Center was also paused. With residents’ voices being heard and their collective action successfully applying pressure on developers, the community hopes they can keep this momentum going.
“You need to show folks that they can’t stop your voice,” Fells told The Informer. “Your voice is basically all you have, and if you don’t speak, look at what they do. They’ll run right over you like they’ve tried to with that train.”
