A futuristic high-speed, magnetically-levitated train is still on track for the Pittsburgh region.

Sort of.

The Port Authority board's engineering committee yesterday recommended entering into a grant agreement with the Federal Railroad Administration for nearly $2 million to continue planning and pre-construction activities.

It was the first time the once ballyhooed Maglev project has been officially resurrected in public in a year.

As a public transit agency, the authority is acting as financial conduit for the federal money on behalf of other partners -- the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and, primarily, Maglev Inc., a private consortium formed in 1991 to pursue construction of the 47-mile line connecting Pittsburgh International Airport, Downtown, Monroeville and Greensburg.

Port Authority officials also disclosed yesterday that a pre-draft environmental impact statement for the $2.7 billion project was completed Aug. 31 and sent to the FRA for its review.

After the document satisfies the FRA, the authority, PennDOT and Maglev Inc. will jointly hold public meetings, probably in January or February.

The $2 million from the federal government will be used to continue those activities, convert documents to an electronic format, provide further technical support and develop a "lessons learned report" on a high-speed maglev system built in Shanghai, China, last year. The Chinese used the expertise and technology of Transrapid KG, the same German-based firm that Maglev Inc. uses.

The money will bring to $19.5 million the amount invested by Oct. 31, 2005, by the FRA, PennDOT and Maglev Inc. in what's now called "The Pennsylvania Project." The authority is reimbursed for the costs of its time and services.

Port Authority Chief Executive Officer Paul Skoutelas said that while the prospect of building a system of trains magnetically levitated and propelled along a mostly elevated track at speeds up to 240 mph remains alive, the future is uncertain.

The FRA eventually narrowed its Maglev choices to Pittsburgh and a Baltimore-to-Washington, D.C., project.

Not only has Congress failed to authorize that construction money but political forces have added a Las Vegas-Los Angeles project that appears to be gaining support.

Maglev Inc. Chief Executive Officer Fred Gurney concurred with the Port Authority's timetable for the environmental planning and assessment of the future for a high-speed, high-tech train system in the United States.

The last national transportation spending bill, called TEA-21, expired in October. Interim legislation has enabled spending to continue while Congress works out the next six-year program.

Maglev Inc. has proposed to build the 47-mile line for the region in phases, with the first phase running between Downtown and the airport and a special "Magport" station and park-n-ride lot near the airport. The 15-mile trip would take only seven minutes and cost an estimated $5 each way.