US Cancels Environmental Review, Grants for Long-Stalled High-Speed Rail Project

Source: US News and World Report/Reuters

Aug. 1, 2025, at 11:11 a.m.


WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. government said on Friday it canceled an environmental review of a long-delayed proposed high-speed rail project between Washington and Baltimore, and scrapped $26 million in grants, effectively ending the project.

The Transportation Department said it was rescinding funds for the proposed $20-billion Baltimore-Washington Superconducting Magnetic Levitation, or MAGLEV project, after "nearly a decade of poor planning, significant community opposition, tremendous cost overruns, and nothing to show for it." The proposal aimed to run trains powered by magnetic forces at speeds up to 311 mph (500 kph), either underground in deep tunnels or elevated on viaducts.

The developer, Northeast Maglev, criticized the decision to cancel the environmental review, calling it the "missed opportunity of a generation to deploy the fastest and safest ground transportation system in the world," that "further cements America’s transportation infrastructure technological inferiority."

It noted that since its inception, the privately led initiative had invested nearly $158 million in the project. The Federal Railroad Administration said it will not prepare a final environmental analysis, saying the project is no longer feasible. An environmental review, started in 2016, has been on pause since 2021.

Read more: https://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2025-08-01/us-cancels-26-million-grant-for-long-stalled-high-speed-rail-project