DALLAS – The Japanese government will contribute $2 million to study a magnetic levitation train line between Baltimore and Washington in hopes that the $10 billion project will be a showcase for Japan's advanced rail technology.
Japanese Ambassador Kenichiro Sasae signed a trade agreement with Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan on Aug. 25 to contribute to the 20% outside match required for the $27.8 million grant that Baltimore-Washington Rapid Rail LLC, the private sector sponsor of the maglev proposal, received in November 2015 from the Federal Railroad Administration for the study.
The grant application was submitted by the Maryland Department of Transportation and the Maryland Economic Development Corp. on behalf of Baltimore-Washington Rapid Rail. The FRA grant did not require state matching funds but rather a 20% match from outside sources.
"With our signatures, we are saying that we believe Maryland and Japan can benefit by working together," Sasae said.
The contribution to the study from the Japanese indicates they are interested in seeing the project through to completion, said Maryland transportation secretary Pete Rahn.
"I think it's interesting that it comes from the government of Japan, which is an indication of their commitment to the use of the technology, which only they have developed," Rahn said.
The Maryland project was proposed by Baltimore-Washington Rapid Rail in cooperation with Central Japan Railway Co., which developed the patented SCMaglev technology that would propel the trains at speeds close to 400 mph.
The Japanese government said earlier this year it would finance half of the estimated $9.75 billion (1 trillion yen) cost of building the 40-mile Maryland segment through the Japan Bank for International Cooperation. Central Japan Railway said it would license the proprietary maglev technology to the Maryland project at no cost.
The FRA grant, aided by Japan's match, will fund an engineering analysis for the train that could carry passengers the 40 miles between Washington and Baltimore in 15 minutes.
The system would include subterranean stations in both cities with an underground stop at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport. About 65% of the Maryland route would be underground.
The high-speed rail line would use magnetic fields generated by superconducting magnets to levitate trains a few inches above the rail. One of Central Japan's maglev trains set a world record pace of 373 mph during a test run in April 2015.
Central Japan Rail operates a 26.6-mile maglev test segment in Japan, but it is not open for commercial service. A 19-mile maglev line has been operating commercially in China since 2004.
The high-tech train system is years away from carrying its first passengers, but progress has been steady, said Wayne Rogers, CEO of Northeast Maglev LLC.
Project sponsor Baltimore-Washington Rapid Rail is a unit of Northeast Maglev, which wants eventually to build a maglev system through the Northeast Corridor between Washington, D.C., and New York City.
A $2 million contribution is a small part of a $10 billion project but it is a good start, Rogers said.
"The private sector has already invested over $60 million in this, the federal government is going to be putting in another $28 million, and the Japanese government is putting in $2 million toward the success of the project," Rogers said.
More than 10,000 people commute to Washington from Baltimore and another 1,600 make the trip from Washington to Baltimore, according to the Census Bureau.
The Maryland Public Service Commission authorized the transfer of an unused passenger rail route to Baltimore-Washington Rapid Rail in November. The route through Baltimore, Prince George's County, and Anne Arundel County was abandoned in 1935 by the Washington, Baltimore and Annapolis Electric Railroad Co.
