Plans are still alive -- barely -- to develop futuristic, magnetically levitated trains to whisk passengers between Pittsburgh International Airport and Downtown at speeds reaching 240 mph.

But whether a high-speed maglev system will ever be built here or anywhere in the United States in the near future remains uncertain.

The Federal Railroad Administration is reviewing a draft version of a final environmental impact statement that could position Maglev Inc. to proceed with the first 15 miles of a national demonstration project, proposed to eventually total 47 miles by continuing east to Monroeville and Greensburg.

Approval of the EIS, which has been more than three years in preparation, is expected early next year.

Beyond then, "the future of high-speed maglev nationally is up in the air," FRA spokesman Warren Flatau said. "It will be wholly up to Congress and the president. In recent years, they have had higher priorities."

Fred Gurney, president and chief executive officer of Maglev Inc., agreed with Mr. Flatau's assessment but said the local high-speed maglev project continues to move forward, however slowly.

He said the privately owned venture has enough money to last through the EIS process and the next step, a federal "Record of Decision," which would authorize the design, engineering, right of way acquisition and, ultimately, construction of the first 15 miles through the Parkway West corridor.

Right now, there's no federal money in the pipeline for any of those activities, although the local project appears more advanced than six other candidates for a high-speed demonstration project, including a Baltimore-Washington, D.C., project that once was Maglev Inc.'s only rival.

Even if the money were available, there's no guarantee that Maglev Inc. would get any of it. While the decision is supposed to be based on merit, the program already has been influenced by politics a number of times.

Earlier federal transportation legislation authorized up to $950 million for a national high-speed maglev demonstration project, but the money was never appropriated and thus is no longer available.

The U.S. House in August passed amendments to the current transportation legislation, known by its acronym SAFETEA-LU, authorizing $90 million to keep planning, research and development alive nationally, but the U.S. Senate has yet to act.

Maglev Inc., now headquartered in McKeesport, has spent a total of $27.6 million in federal and state funds since the mid-1990s in pursuit of the system, called the "Pennsylvania Project" because of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation's participation.

"Right now, we could use part of the [federal money] to keep other aspects of the project moving," Mr. Gurney said. "We'll have to try our darndest to get construction money reauthorized in 2010," when SAFETEA-LU expires and new federal transportation funding legislation must be passed.

Other obstacles stand in the way of Maglev Inc. building a system of trains magnetically levitated and propelled along a mostly elevated track.

The latest cost estimate for the first 15 miles of the line between the airport and Downtown, including stations called "Magports," was $1.8 billion, and was made in 2003 before energy, cement and steel prices brought substantial inflation to the construction industry. "There has been escalation, certainly," Mr. Gurney said.

While the Federal Railroad Administration had narrowed its list of prospects for developing a national high-speed maglev demonstration project to Pittsburgh and Baltimore-Washington, D.C., in 2000, members of Congress have since directed that any funds be split with a project in the western United States. Other high-speed maglev projects are now proposed to serve Las Vegas, Atlanta, New Orleans, Florida and Southern California.

If funding is restored and Maglev Inc. is picked to build a prototype, at least one-third of the money would have to come from the state and one-third would have to be raised locally from public and private sources -- $600 million each based on the 2003 cost estimate.

There doesn't seem to be a sense of imminence.

The FRA has not updated the high-speed maglev section of its Web site since April. "What's New" at Maglev Inc.'s site, www.maglevpa.com, deals with public hearings held in 2005.

While the United States has dawdled over the new transportation technology, other countries have begun embracing it, including Japan and China, which built a high-speed maglev line between Shanghai's financial district and its airport. Last month, the German state of Bavaria signed an agreement to build a $2.6 billion line between downtown Munich and its airport.

The technology for both the Shanghai and Munich projects comes from German-based Transrapid International, the same firm being utilized by Maglev Inc. for the region's system.

Mr. Gurney said not all will be lost if the United States does not resurrect the high-speed maglev concept and provide construction funds or if southwestern Pennsylvania loses out in competition for a demonstration project.

As part of its research and development, Maglev Inc. has been developing cutting-edge technology that would be used for computer-assisted precision fabrication of steel beams and sections of guideway to reduce costs for maglev.

The U.S. Office of Naval Research became interested in how the process could be used to manufacture steel components for ships, granting $2.5 million to Maglev to continue work and set up shop in a former USX mill in McKeesport.

Mr. Gurney said private industry is now looking at the possibility of using Maglev's technology to fabricate bridge beams with compound curves and low distortion.

"We've found a way to move from one steel beam or steel plate configuration to another, with tolerances down to the thickness of a matchstick, and do it in five minutes instead of five days that it now takes," he said. "We've done some fancy stuff that'll knock your socks off."

As another spinoff, Maglev Inc. has put together a student training program for the new technology in conjunction with Community College of Allegheny County and the Penn State University-Greater Allegheny campus in McKeesport.

Since 1999, the Federal Railroad Administration has doled out a total of $62 million for planning for the seven high-speed maglev projects. Maglev Inc. has received the most money, $20.7 million, with PennDOT providing matching funds.

The Port Authority is the conduit for the funds, but its role is relatively minor and the transit agency is reimbursed for time put in by staff.

"We're merely a pass-through agency. Absolutely no authority money is invested in this project," spokesman Bob Grove said. "After the Environmental Impact Statement is approved, that's the end of the line for us."

Maglev Inc. has a number of local shareholders including U.S. Steel Corp., Michael Baker Jr. Inc., Duquesne Light Co., United Steelworkers of America, Bombardier Transportation of West Mifflin and Carnegie Mellon University.