The federal government yesterday awarded $28 million for the continued planning of a magnetic levitation train line designed to speed passengers from Pittsburgh International Airport to Downtown Pittsburgh and points east.

The maglev project, conceived decades ago but still far from construction, could eventually carry passengers from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia in less than two hours at speeds in excess of 250 mph. Its sponsors suggest that it could serve as the core of a still broader maglev network, as well as establishing Western Pennsylvania as a manufacturing center for high-speed transportation.

The grant from the Federal Railroad Administration was announced by Pennsylvania's two senators.

"This a big step forward; the potential in the long run is tremendous," said Sen. Arlen Specter, who noted that his office first enlisted in the campaign to attract federal assistance for the project shortly after his election in 1980.

Previous federal grants to the project have totaled some $22 million. The additional $28 million will be awarded formally to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, which will direct the funds to the project's longtime backer, McKeesport-based Maglev Inc.

"We're excited about it," said Fred Gurney, the president and CEO of Maglev Inc. "We think it will be just fantastic. ... Maglev can climb grades of 10 percent easily. It can negotiate the terrain of Western Pennsylvania easily."

As the name suggests, maglev trains operate by being lifted above their guideways by powerful magnets, and the absence of friction allows them to operate at high speeds.

Currently, the only commercial maglev project in the world is in Shanghai, China. A maglev test track was opened in Emsland, Germany, in 1984. Its technology has yet to be put to commercial use, although the state of Bavaria has proposed such a project. Japan, a pioneer in high-speed rail trains, is also reported to be considering plans for a maglev line.

In 2003, costs for the first phase of the Pennsylvania project, a line linking the airport, Downtown Pittsburgh, Monroeville and Greensburg, were estimated at $3.75 billion. The segment from the airport to a stop envisioned for just above Grant Street was estimated at $1.6 billion.

One of the purposes of this new grant is to update those projections. It is also to be used for pre-engineering studies for placement of the maglev infrastructure and right-of-way as well as the design of a bridge that would carry trains over the Monongahela River near the site of the Port Authority's light rail bridge, just east of Station Square.

The $28 million announced yesterday will be drawn from a 2008 congressional appropriation of $45 million for maglev development east of the Mississippi River. According to Mr. Specter, the award for the balance of that allotment has yet to be announced.

Several other maglev routes have been proposed and are vying for federal funding. Among them a Nevada-Los Angeles line, a line from Atlanta to Chattanooga, Tenn., and one connecting Baltimore with Washington, D.C.

It was not immediately clear what yesterday's announcement meant for those other competing proposals.

Mr. Gurney said that in addition to the $28 million announced yesterday, Maglev Inc. plans to apply for further federal funds available through the federal stimulus measure enacted earlier this year. If successful at that point, he said, the organization would be in a position to seek private financing and perhaps additional public funds to move toward actual construction.