Prince George’s County councilmembers say they’re sending a letter opposing the Northeast Maglev Project, addressing it to Maryland’s Congressional delegation, the state’s department of transportation, and the Federal Railroad Administration.

The Northeast Maglev project proposed by private investors has big ambition: to eventually get passengers from D.C. to New York City in an hour. But that long-term vision could take decades. The first phase aims for D.C. to Baltimore in 15 minutes. The route traverses Prince George’s County, but has no passenger stops in the county.

At a briefing on the project’s draft environmental impact statement [DEIS] Tuesday, councilmembers voted to write a joint letter with County Executive Angela Alsobrooks stating the project shouldn’t go forward. They say the statement lacks information about the direct effects on the county.

The Northeast Maglev is being pitched by private investors who think the project would alleviate congestion, help the environment and make money at the same time. The federal government, in this case the Federal Railroad Administration, reviews transportation projects to examine the impacts on the environment, from the amount of land needed to impact on sensitive ecosystems or historic sites, and more. The public comment period on the DEIS closes on May 24.

Councilmember Danielle Glaros, whose district is located in the part of the county where the Maglev would traverse under current Purple Line tracks, says the statement lacks a lot of details.

“Whether or not this project was going through my district, I would directly tell you that this is poor transportation policy and has some fundamental flaws with it,” Glaros told her colleagues during a virtual meeting Tuesday. “I do not believe this is a done deal.”

According to officials with the county’s park and planning department, the train would run underground from Mount Vernon Square in D.C. to Greenbelt, then run above ground along the BW Parkway, and then underground again near Laurel until BWI Airport and then Baltimore. Officials say the Maglev could see17.5 million trips annually by 2030. The cost to a rider would be about $60 one-way, according to the environmental impact statement.

As proposed, the $14 – 17 billion project would also require constructing a storage facility for maintenance equipment to be located near single-family homes in Springfield Road Community Park and an electric power substation adjacent to South Laurel Neighborhood Park.

Debra Borden, deputy general counsel with Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, said these facilities would have an adverse economic effect.

“[DEIS] didn’t spend any time talking about how property values around these ancillary facilities would be affected, and we think they’re going to be negatively affected,” Borden told councilmembers. She added that living near a transit facility “does not have great connotations.”

Park and planning officials also said that several adverse effects were not being taken seriously in the impact statement. Those included concerns that ridership on Amtrak and MARC trains would be siphoned off, possible traffic congestion during construction, and environmental threats to wetlands, tree conservation areas, and animal habitats.

Councilmember Rodney Streeter and his colleagues agreed with comments made by Alsobrooks, saying that the county doesn’t stand to benefit from the project.

“We are expected to bear the brunt of most of the negative impacts of this project,” Streeter said.

While some councilmembers voted to stop the construction of the project, Councilmembers Mel Franklin and Council Vice Chair Deni Taveras pushed back on their colleagues’ outright opposition stating that the project has been slowly gaining approval in the federal and state government for years.

“Our state legislature could have killed this project and it’s been multiple years and they didn’t do it. Our federal government could have killed this project, it’s been multiple years and they haven’t done it,” Franklin told his colleagues. “Let’s not be naive…this project is operating under a number of approvals that can only happen at the state and federal level.”

Taveras agreed saying the project could benefit Prince George’s County and is in line with the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments’ long-term priorities for transit in the region. She ultimately voted with her council colleagues agreeing that there was a lack of transparency in the DEIS process, but saying more dialogue was needed. Franklin abstained from voting.

But, Councilmember Derrick Leon Davis said project officials have not taken advantage of several opportunities to come before them to present their project plans.

“For whatever reason, that got fumbled,” Davis said. “As we represent our constituents we must make sure their concerns are heard and respected. The level of respect will ultimately determine how we are compensated fairly for the inconvenience that something like this might create.”

Borden said park and planning officials have a number of questions about the adverse effects to the county. She says they haven’t seen any proposals to compensate people for those effects.

“If they can come up with a package of community benefits that will make the community whole, that’s a different discussion,” Borden told councilmembers. “It’s not in the DEIS and no one has talked to us about what can make the community whole and what can be done.”

Maglev project representatives told DCist/WAMU in a statement that they’ve had several meetings with county officials and “look forward to continuing dialogue with them and all stakeholders.”

“It is the iterative process of determining and avoiding impacts and acceptable mitigations, all with the goal of creating a project that maximizes potential and minimizes impacts,” representatives wrote in a statement. “If residents, community groups and elected officials have not yet shared their specific concerns with the Maryland Department of Transportation/Maryland Transit Authority and Federal Railroad Administration in any of the six public hearings or by commenting in writing, we absolutely encourage them to do so.”

Earlier this year, two bills that would have halted the project stalled in a Maryland House committee.

The National Capital Planning Commission also heard a presentation on the project last week. Commissioners were intrigued by the idea, but some said it’s unproven technology, costly to build and ride and they also questioned who would ride it.

Commissioner Arrington Dixon said a 15 minute trip to Baltimore is good, but he wishes officials were upgrading existing rail service on MARC and Amtrak instead of building something that disrupts the environment.

“It’s exciting, but do we want to go through the intrusion?” he asked?

Generally, these projects have not found a clear path in the U.S.:  The magnetic levitating technology has been in demonstration projects several times, but never run as operating passenger service. The tech is most used in China and Japan.

The SCMAGLEV (Superconducting Maglev) technology being proposed in the project was developed and is owned by Central Japan Railroad Company. The private entity that wants to build the Maglev in the U.S. says it does have about $5 billion secured from Japanese investors, according to The Washington Post.

This story was updated with comments from Northeast Maglev Project representatives and with the correct planning commission that heard the presentation last week. A correction was made to show that the Prince George’s Council did not unanimously approve the letter, but had a majority vote with one abstained.