New monorail could be coming to Pittsburgh

Imagine taking a train from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia and getting there in two hours. If… Imagine taking a train from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia and getting there in two hours. If Pittsburgh and Allegheny County are successful, the dream may soon be one step closer to reality.

The city and county are competing with the Baltimore-Washington region for construction rights to the $2.8 billion Magnetic Levitation Transportation System. The proposed train would run a 47-mile track from Pittsburgh International Airport to the Greensburg area, a small residential region outside the city of Pittsburgh that houses almost 16,000 residents.

The Pennsylvania High Speed Magnetic Levitation Transportation Project is a public and private partnership between the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, the Port Authority of Allegheny County and Maglev Inc., a Pittsburgh-based company that has been promoting the development of the Maglev system locally and in the continental United States.

The U.S. Congress enacted the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st century in 1997 to allow for the study of multiple corridors across the country for possible rail system construction. Congress allotted $950 million to the Federal Railroad Administration to begin its search for attractive regions across the country for the project, and the administrators eventually selected Allegheny County because of its “winding rivers, ridges and topography,” according to the Maglev Web site.

The FRA chose the Pennsylvania and Baltimore-Washington projects as finalists for the train over several other states, including California, Nevada and Florida, after state legislators submitted the required funding and environmental design proposal. The competing project sites will be evaluated against a set of criteria including “adequate ridership, an acceptable corridor for installation, satisfying a real transportation need, national significance of the project and an ability to demonstrate the technical capabilities of the technology,” according to Maglev engineers.

The FRA will choose one project in the spring of 2003 and construction could commence shortly after that. The $950 million allocation in FRA grants will help contribute to the entire project’s $2.8 billion price tag. The remaining funds will come from public and private partners.

Maglev engineers are optimistic that the Pittsburgh corridor is the first section of a statewide rail system, with stops in Altoona, State College and Lancaster, Pa. It is estimated that the train can travel from the airport to Downtown in seven minutes, from Downtown to Monroeville in 11 minutes and from Monroeville to Greensburg in six minutes. As the line extends, a trip from Harrisburg to Pittsburgh will last approximately one hour and 15 minutes and a trip to Philadelphia will take less than two hours, as opposed to a Greyhound Bus trip that lasts at least six hours, according to the Greyhound Web site.

Future sites that could potentially house Maglev stations in the city are the Strip District, Lawrenceville and the Penn Hills.

According to the Web site, the Maglev system will compliment Pittsburgh International Airport, ranked first in the nation and third in the world, by extending “the Pittsburgh airport into smaller towns, making it more accessible and affordable for the average traveler.”

Maglev’s hill climbing ability, rapid acceleration, minimal noise and fume emission and low energy usage lead a list of advantages over other modes of transportation, according to the Maglev Web site. Engineers said the acceleration and deceleration of a Maglev vehicle are four times faster than those of traditional rail systems, permitting the vehicle to make more stops without any time loss.

Technology for the Maglev system was first developed and deployed in Germany more than 20 years ago, with over 650,000 miles of track constructed successfully in Lathen, Germany. Maglev uses a contact-free electromagnetic propulsion vehicle moved on a guideway without rails or wheels. The vehicles are supported, guided and propelled using conventional electromagnetic forces. There is no physical contact with the guideways, preventing mechanical wear or noise and lowering maintenance costs, according to Maglev’s industrial staff. The Maglev system is the only operational system deemed ready for commercial installation.

Years of research and redesign have produced a system that the Web site says will neither derail nor collide with other vehicles. The electromagnetic field, which propels the vehicles, moves the cars in the same directions at the same speed, prohibiting a faster vehicle from hitting a slower vehicle and prohibiting two vehicles from colliding head on.

Public forums and informational sessions have occurred during the past year to gather input and reaction from residents near or interested in the construction. Bob Grove, a Port Authority spokesman, said the Port Authority obtained “quite a gamut of reactions.”

“Some are very supportive, but most are interested in technological aspects of the project because they are unfamiliar with it,” he said. “Many had operational questions, which cannot be answered now but will be answered in time.”

According to the Maglev Web site, the development of the Maglev system is expected to have a positive impact on the region in economic, industrial and environmental areas. “Jobs, new businesses and real estate development will occur along the routes. An overall improvement in daily commuter traffic is expected due to a decrease in traffic congestion, and a reduction in air pollutants is expected due to a decrease in automobile traffic,” according to the Web site.

But Grove said that if regional development does occur, it will not be a result of the Maglev system.

“The purpose of the construction is not to spur economic development,” he said. “Areas that the train will travel to, like Downtown and Monroeville, are already well-developed. Will there be any developments? Certainly. But it will not necessarily be a result of Maglev.”

Construction on the Maglev line could begin in 2003 and last until 2005, should the FRA choose Allegheny County. Early predictions suggest that a ride on the Maglev train will cost about $5. Studies will continue on new routes to destinations such as the North Shore near Heinz Field and other suburban areas.