WASHINGTON—The U.S. Department of Transportation announced on Friday that it has canceled over $26 million in federal grants for the Baltimore-Washington Superconducting Magnetic Levitation (SCMAGLEV) Project, effectively ending federal involvement in the proposed high-speed rail line.
The decision was announced by Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy, who cited what he called “poor planning, significant community opposition, and tremendous cost overruns” as reasons for the cancellation. The project, which was estimated to cost nearly $20 billion, had faced numerous delays since the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) first became involved in 2016.
“This project did not have the means to go the distance, and I can’t in good conscience keep taxpayers on the hook for it,” Duffy said in a statement…