Washington to Baltimore: maglev or hyperloop?

STrRedWolf wrote: ↑Tue Mar 23, 2021 8:19 pm

scratchyX1 wrote: ↑Tue Mar 23, 2021 11:48 am Not that I expect sport ball attendance to come back anytime soon, but now that it's no longer CSX operating the trains, why couldn't MARC run the ballpark trains again, but with a regular ticket price?
Or would it run into the "not enough slots" issue that prevents additional reverse direction service?

I think it'll be "We'll get in trouble again if we do that with other people contracted to staff the train." All have been burned. MTA itself got burned with the drowsy drug issues years past, which is a different story.

If it wasn't for the massive insurance requirement, and CSX not wanting to play, I'm sure a company could make bank with sport ball specials, where those rooting for $TEAM could avoid DUI tickets and waiting hours to leave the stadiums.

What is the drowsy drug story?

scratchyX1 wrote: ↑Wed Mar 24, 2021 12:32 pm What is the drowsy drug story?

Quickly then: A couple of Light Rail operators were taking meds that made them drowsy and it caused two trains to crash into BWI Airport... and make local news. (They really hit the bumper blocks and pushed the train car up into the awning. It didn't actually go into the station.

FTA looked at that and said "You will put in a drug policy banning any drug that makes safety-sensitive people drowsy *OR* we yank your funding." MTA put in the policy and also lowered the speed limit through BWI Airport.

How do I know this? Eight years on a two year temp employee position at MTA (yeah, it was *that* screwed up). I can tell stories about the (now old) payroll system...

STrRedWolf wrote: ↑Wed Mar 24, 2021 5:23 pm

scratchyX1 wrote: ↑Wed Mar 24, 2021 12:32 pm What is the drowsy drug story?

Quickly then: A couple of Light Rail operators were taking meds that made them drowsy and it caused two trains to crash into BWI Airport... and make local news. (They really hit the bumper blocks and pushed the train car up into the awning. It didn't actually go into the station.

FTA looked at that and said "You will put in a drug policy banning any drug that makes safety-sensitive people drowsy *OR* we yank your funding." MTA put in the policy and also lowered the speed limit through BWI Airport.

How do I know this? Eight years on a two year temp employee position at MTA (yeah, it was *that* screwed up). I can tell stories about the (now old) payroll system...

Oh, I forgot about that. That's why light rail creeps through the airport, now. I'm surprised MTA didn't have a policy before hand, just for CYA purposes. But I also know former MTA contractors with stories about the left and right hands not knowing what they were doing.

scratchyX1 wrote: ↑Thu Mar 25, 2021 10:41 am Oh, I forgot about that. That's why light rail creeps through the airport, now. I'm surprised MTA didn't have a policy before hand, just for CYA purposes. But I also know former MTA contractors with stories about the left and right hands not knowing what they were doing.

Yeah, the IT Department heard a lot. Alas, not even MDOT could convert that temp to a permanent position. The contract was ended at it's 8 year date, and I ended up in my current position one block away at a now rather major Internet firm.

STrRedWolf wrote: ↑Wed Mar 24, 2021 5:23 pm

scratchyX1 wrote: ↑Wed Mar 24, 2021 12:32 pm What is the drowsy drug story?

Quickly then: A couple of Light Rail operators were taking meds that made them drowsy and it caused two trains to crash into BWI Airport... and make local news. (They really hit the bumper blocks and pushed the train car up into the awning. It didn't actually go into the station.

FTA looked at that and said "You will put in a drug policy banning any drug that makes safety-sensitive people drowsy *OR* we yank your funding." MTA put in the policy and also lowered the speed limit through BWI Airport.

How do I know this? Eight years on a two year temp employee position at MTA (yeah, it was *that* screwed up). I can tell stories about the (now old) payroll system...

New Jersey law for motor vehicles defines driving under the influence as not only alcohol or illegal drugs, but also including any substance, including over the counter and prescription medications, which results in impaired driving. If a car accident occurs and there is a personal injury to anyone other than the drug-induced drowsy driver, that is a criminal offense with up to 18 months in state prison; if a death results it is a homicide offense with severe penalties.

Any word on this project's status?

scratchyX1 wrote: ↑Mon Mar 22, 2021 11:15 am Honestly, Cascadia would be a better place for Maglev, since any faster service there will require massive amount of tunnels, anyway.
Also, a person gets to cherry hill, great. Then they have to wait 15 minutes for light rail, ELIMINATING any savings in time over Amtrak.

Getting back on track, yes. Outside of Baltimore proper you'll have to hop the light rail. How close to light rail?

The Cherry Hill alignment's station is actually in Westport.
The Camden Yards alignment is across from the convention center and would split it in half.

This looks even worse. Ugh, I gotta comment on this DEIS.

Pensyfan19 wrote: ↑Mon Mar 29, 2021 10:31 am Any word on this project's status?

Magelv and Hyperloop are two unrelated projects, except that it's hard to believe both will be built. And then there's Amtrak's eventual high speed rail for the NEC. These two projects terminate at a different station in Balto than Amtrak and can't easily go north.

Maglev: public comments extended to May 24.

Hyperloop: futuristic video presentation at virtual SxSW this month. Don't know if it mentioned Washington-Baltimore.

STrRedWolf wrote: ↑Mon Mar 29, 2021 10:36 am

scratchyX1 wrote: ↑Mon Mar 22, 2021 11:15 am Honestly, Cascadia would be a better place for Maglev, since any faster service there will require massive amount of tunnels, anyway.
Also, a person gets to cherry hill, great. Then they have to wait 15 minutes for light rail, ELIMINATING any savings in time over Amtrak.

Getting back on track, yes. Outside of Baltimore proper you'll have to hop the light rail. How close to light rail?

The Cherry Hill alignment's station is actually in Westport.
The Camden Yards alignment is across from the convention center and would split it in half.

This looks even worse. Ugh, I gotta comment on this DEIS.

It would pretty much take the entire Westport waterfront, nailing the coffin for developing it.
And the Camden yards alignment would take out the convention center and other buildings.
Gerald Neely's idea of putting it's station where the post office is now would be the best idea.
Well, best idea is to stop huffing glue and let this idea go with the skybus and areotrain.

It just so happened that I found a news article regarding this matter.

https://www.progressiverailroading.com/ ... tem--63069

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) have extended the public comment period for the environmental review of the private-sector Baltimore-Washington Superconducting Magnetic Levitation Project (SCMAGLEV)

The public comment period will now run through May 24, according to a press release.

Earlier this monthm FRA and MDOT MTA announced the schedule for a trio of public hearings in April on the SCMAGLEV DEIS. The hearings will be held virtually April 6, 8 and 10.

Here is the DEIS for the project.

The Washington Post ran a long article yesterday about the deleterious environmental details of the maglev project, ahead of the upcoming virtual public hearings April 6, 8 & 10.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/transpor ... al-impact/

A high-speed train that would take passengers from Washington to Baltimore in 15 minutes as an alternative to traffic-choked roads would cut through a swath of public land, raising alarms among researchers who say hundreds of acres of forests and sensitive areas would be destroyed.

The 40-mile superconducting system for the magnetic-levitation train, or maglev, would travel aboveground for up to nine of those miles, crossing or touching upon some of the leading federal research facilities in the country.

Its two proposed alignments — east and west of the Baltimore-Washington Parkway — would cut through woods and permanently alter parks, recreational facilities and wetlands. As many as 1,000 acres, including up to 328 acres of federal land, would be affected, according to a federal environmental review.

kitchin wrote: ↑Sat Apr 03, 2021 6:24 am The Washington Post ran a long article yesterday about the deleterious environmental details of the maglev project, ahead of the upcoming virtual public hearings April 6, 8 & 10.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/transpor ... al-impact/

Another news article or blog behind a paywall. Could you not include some "fair use" quotes from it?
Every DEIS or FEIS study is going to have deleterious environmental details, that is why most environmental impact studies include remedies or ways to mediate those deleterious impacts.
deleterious
ADJECTIVE
causing harm or damage.

And by the way, was it the Post or you responsible for the post graduate adjective when using the more common harmful would have sufficed?

electricron wrote: ↑Mon Apr 05, 2021 7:33 am And by the way, was it the Post or you responsible for the post graduate adjective when using the more common harmful would have sufficed?

All me! It's a long article, front page of the Metro section April 4. The only positives are at the very end, so I'll clip those too. It's all about the green - the environment not the other green. Missing is any discussion of how it would compete with Amtrak NEC or MARC, or the 50% funding by Central Japan Railway. Nor does it mention the hyperloop proposal on the same alignment by the mercurial Elon Musk.

From another quarter comes a possibly cranky critique of the maglev proposal that the technology is two generations behind. But it seems to me "off-the-shelf" has the advantage, unless someone or body is going to pony up big money. I was able to read this without a subscription, it's the second letter to editor, by Robert J. Coullahan: https://www.capitalgazette.com/opinion/ ... story.html

SCM for transportation was invented by Drs. Gordon Danby and James Powell, senior scientists at Brookhaven National Laboratory. They patented them in 1968. Their subsequent second generation SCM permits the technology to carry heavy freight, electronically switch guideways at high speeds and a much lower cost of construction.

Bring back the WB&A !!!