The dream of high-speed, magnetically propelled trains zipping between Washington, D.C., and New York City will, at least for now, remain just that — a dream.

The Federal Railroad Administration has officially canned the environmental review process for the section of the proposed Northeast Maglev train between D.C. and Baltimore, halting a plan that would be transformative for the region but has drawn the ire of community groups in parts of Maryland along its path.

The proposal would cause “significant, unresolvable impacts to federal agencies and federal property,” according to a letter the FRA sent Thursday to Maryland Transportation Secretary Paul Wiedefeld and shared with The Baltimore Banner. The letter also cites “substantial delay and cost overruns” associated with the review process.

Responding in a letter of his own, Wiedefeld wrote that MDOT would comply with the FRA’s request, and thanked the federal agency for its partnership.

Baltimore Washington Rapid Rail and “sister” company Northeast Maglev have proposed building a train using technology currently employed in Japan, where superconducting, energy-efficient magnets can propel trains up to a jaw-dropping 300 mph or more — significantly faster than Amtrak’s speediest Acela trains.

MDOT entered a cooperative agreement with the FRA to conduct an environmental review of the proposal in 2016. The review had been paused twice, including one that had been initiated in August 2021 that held until yesterday, when the FRA made it permanent.

The decision to rescind the environmental review process “represents the missed opportunity of a generation to deploy the fastest and safest ground transportation system in the world,” a spokesperson for Northeast Maglev wrote in an emailed statement, and “further cements America’s transportation infrastructure inferiority.”

If built, the Maglev could be a game changer. In theory, it would allow someone boarding a train in New York to arrive in the nation’s capitol in about 70 minutes. Commutes between Baltimore and D.C. would take just 15 minutes. The proposal included a Baltimore station in either a southern neighborhood like Cherry Hill or a more central downtown location near the Convention Center.

The proposal also would be astronomically expensive — think tens of billions of dollars — as it would require dozens of miles of tunneling between Baltimore and Washington in what is the most expensive country in the world to bore a rail tunnel. Baltimore Washington Rapid Rail has proposed funding it through a public-private partnership.

“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,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in an emailed news release. The move cancels two federal grants worth about $26 million for the review process.

Construction and operations of the maglev along the proposed alignment would disrupt “critical” federal infrastructure at Fort Meade and federal agencies like NASA and the U.S. Secret Service, according to language filed Friday morning in the federal register that is set to publish Monday.

Also, getting the train to max speed would require specific guideway geometry that “constrains the ability to avoid sensitive resources” like the Patuxent Wildlife Refuge.

Additionally, the proposal was developed before “significant federal investments” in Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor, wrote Acting FRA Administrator Robert Andrew Feeley.

Just in Maryland, billions of dollars are going into replacing a West Baltimore tunnel and a major rail bridge in the northeastern part of the state, and a new fleet of Amtrak’s Acela trains should be going into service soon.

Some community groups and state lawmakers have fought against the maglev project, arguing it would cause adverse environmental impacts and only serve big city elites, not average Marylanders.

“At every step, we voiced the concerns of thousands who would have been displaced, disconnected, or disregarded in the name of a project that served too few and risked too much,” wrote Del. Ashanti Martinez, a Prince George’s County Democrat on the social media platform X Thursday night.

Gov. Wes Moore took a ride on a Maglev train during a recent trip to Japan, calling it “the future” and telling officials they had a partner in his office to advance the project. Prince George’s residents quickly rallied in response, calling his apparent endorsement of the technology a “slap in the face.”

Yet Baltimore Washington Rapid Rail has claimed repeatedly in the past that the proposal has more supporters than opponents across Maryland, according to polling the company commissioned. They argue it would have significant benefits like creating jobs, open up regional transportation options and help reduce traffic congestion by taking cars off the road.

The notice in the federal register highlights that the FRA received over 6,000 public comments on the draft environmental impact statement published in January 2021. The comments were “generally supportive” of the technology and the potential for growth the project could bring, Feeley wrote, but there also were members of public who worried about community impacts.

Though this marks a potentially fatal setback for the Northeast Maglev, the high-speed rail dream may not be completely dead.

“This will end the FRA’s involvement in the environmental review process, but it does not preclude the future deployment of SCMAGLEV technology in the United States,” the FRA letter states.

While its project is tabled for now, the Northeast Maglev spokesperson said: “It is our sincere hope that future leaders will recognize the promise of high-speed rail, the adoption of new technology, and the opportunity to reclaim America’s transportation dominance to the benefit of its citizens.”

This article has been updated with a statement from Northeast Maglev.