NEWS

Next Steps

The PA Project team has incorporated the oral testimony and written comments – and the analyses of and responses to those comments – obtained during the 60-day public comment period from October 7 to December 7, 2005 into the project’s Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS). Work on the FEIS, including additional engineering and the identification of the preferred alternative for the PA Project, is expected to conclude in 2007. After public review of the FEIS, it will be submitted to the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) for final review of all environmental work associated with the project. The FRA may consider issuing a Record of Decision (ROD) once funding for the project is more certain. The ROD is the federal approval that will allow the project to proceed into final design and property acquisition. Future progress on the PA Project is subject to federal approvals and funding availability. Federal funding is being pursued to advance the high-speed maglev project into final design and engineering. The Pennsylvania Project is one of several projects in the United States being considered by the Federal Railroad Administration.

Public Hearings Conclude

The Pennsylvania High-speed Maglev Project (PA Project) Team thanks the more than 390 people who attended the public hearings for the PA Project. Fifty-eight people offered oral testimony, and written testimony has been received from several property owners, businesses and residents along the 54-mile project corridor.

Date	Location	Number of people who attended	Number of people who gave public testimony	Number of people who gave private testimony
11/9/05	Regional Enterprise Tower - Downtown Pittsburgh	44	8	0
11/15/05	CCAC Boyce - Monroeville	38	4	1
11/16/05	Sheraton - Greensburg	45	9	0
11/17/05	Montour High School – Robinson Township	266	30	6
Totals		393	51	7

Public Information Sessions Conclude

Thank you to the more than 300 people who attended one of four public information sessions held in late October 2005. The public information sessions offered attendees opportunities to become familiar with the project, ask questions of the project team regarding the DEIS and inquire about the public hearings for the PA Project. Maps of the alignments studied in depth in the DEIS and detailed maps of the environmentally preferred build alternative were also on display.