Contact:

Susan R. McCutchen

Maryland Coalition for Responsible Transit Denounces Continued Misleading Baltimore-Washington Rapid Rail Claims and Recent South Baltimore 7 Coalition Actions in Controversial Support of the Superconducting Magnetic Levitation Train Project

September 20, 2022, Maryland Coalition for Responsible Transit MD – In its September 8 press release, the South Baltimore 7 Coalition (SB7) claimed to represent all its members as wholly endorsing the Superconducting Magnetic Levitation (SCMaglev) train project. This inaccurate and misleading representation emanated from the convening of a special board meeting by SB7 Chair Michael Middleton to pressure community leaders to vote in favor of a letter supporting this transportation project.

The Westport Neighborhood Association (WNA) and Westport Community Economic Development Corporation (Westport CEDC) are setting the record straight regarding the SB7. The actual support was limited to only three board members. With one abstention and two “no” votes, less than a majority of the directors present voted in favor of such a letter with the condition that a “planned” community benefits agreement be put in place “to detail BWRR’s [Baltimore-Washington Rapid Rail] activities with, and contributions to, South Baltimore communities.” As has been pointed out by the WNA and Westport CEDC in their public statements, there have been no substantive discussions leading to the promised formulation of such an agreement with BWRR or The Northeast Maglev (TNEM), the promoter of the Baltimore-Washington SCMaglev project.

MCRT joins WNA and the Westport CEDC in challenging the continued deceptive and unsupported claims made by BWRR to promote building the SCMaglev. We will continue to partner with residents and allied community and civic associations, environmental organizations, cities, counties, and federal agencies to achieve a “No Build” decision by the Federal Railroad Administration and to stop this monstrosity before it destroys our communities and damages sensitive protected environmental areas.

To read the SB7 press release, click here. TNEM included this announcement in its September 15 marketing newsletter, thanking the SB7 communities for “throwing their collective weight behind the Northeast Maglev project,” further spreading misleading information. To read the WNA/Westport CEDC response, click here. On September 16, the Baltimore Sun reported on this standoff: “ Westport neighborhood groups remain strongly opposed to a high-speed Maglev train that would cut through their community’s undeveloped waterfront, despite new support for the controversial project from a larger coalition of South Baltimore residents.” Click here to read the full Baltimore Sun article.

HOW YOU CAN LET YOUR VOICE BE HEARD

MCRT strongly encourages you all to email your City or County Council Members, City Mayor or County Executive, your Maryland State Senator and District Delegates, as well as Maryland’s Governor, to tell all you are opposed to building the SCMaglev - AND - ask them not to spend another penny or seek any additional grants to fund the building and operating of the SCMaglev.

Need More Information? Want to Help?

(1) Share this information with your family, friends, neighbors, and your community.

(2) Join our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/groups/CitizensAgainstSCMaglev.

(3) Contact your elected officials to express your opposition to building the SCMagLev, go to: myreps.datamade.us.

(4) Learn more about the concerns and impacts the SCMagLev will have on our communities and how to comment on the January 2021 Draft Environmental Impact Statement at www.stopthistrain.org and www.mcrt-action.org.

(5) Contact the Maryland Coalition for Responsible Transit (MCRT) at mcrtaction@gmail.com for questions.

(6) Make a contribution to support the Maryland Coalition for Responsible Transit (MCRT) and Citizens Against the SCMagLev (CATS) at www.mcrt-action.org. Your donation, in any amount, is appreciated. Thanks for your support!