The objective of the program is to demonstrate high-speed maglev technology in commercial service through a project of about 40 miles in length, so that it can be considered later in the century for implementation in a longer distance intercity corridor application.

[4] In 2001, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) published a Record of Decision (ROD) following completion of a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) for the Maglev Deployment Program.

As published in the ROD, FRA concluded that Maglev was an appropriate technology for use in new transportation options in Maryland and Pennsylvania and should be further studied at the project level.

In coordination with MDOT's Maryland Transit Administration (MTA), FRA then prepared and circulated a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) in 2003, for a maglev project linking downtown Baltimore, BWI Marshall Airport, and Union Station in Washington, DC.

[6] In the "Maryland Transportation Administration" document[7] on page 42, marked "Page MTA-38" in the lower-right hand corner is a listing for the Maglev System Study which lists under description: "Feasibility study and preparation of environmental documentation involved with operating magnetic levitation trains between Baltimore and Washington, with a stop at BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport."

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 revived federal funding of intercity high-speed rail, particularly in the context of the Las Vegas to Anaheim route.

In November 2013 the prime minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe, proposed fully financing a high-speed maglev link between Baltimore and Washington, D.C., to president Obama.

Inside the Washington Capital Beltway, the route stays west of the Northeast Corridor, until the Amtrak rail yards, and then terminates at Mount Vernon Square rather than Union Station.

The public side is described in BWRR's January 2021, press release, as led by the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) and the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA).