California's ambitious plan for high-speed rail service will become reality within a decade with service between the state's agricultural Central Valley and high-tech Silicon Valley, state officials say.
In an updated draft plan for the rail line that will whisk passengers from Los Angeles to San Francisco in under three hours by 2029, the California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) revised downward the cost of the entire line, to $US64.1 billion ($A89.6 billion) from nearly $US68 billion.
The draft plan includes a new initiative to request $US2.9 billion in additional funding from the federal government.
The first leg of the line would connect Kern County in the state's agricultural breadbasket to San Jose in Silicon Valley by 2025.
California's project is one of a handful of high-speed trains planned in the US, which has failed to keep pace with Europe and Asia, where such trains have become commonplace.
Of the US plans, California's is considered the most ambitious - with travel speeds over (320km/h - and the farthest along after breaking ground in 2014.
The project has captured attention from international firms, financiers and train manufacturers that view it as a foothold into a burgeoning high-speed rail market in the US.
California would eventually tap private firms and investors to help cover roughly one-third of the total project cost. But first, the state must get an initial segment "up and running as quickly as possible" to prove ridership.
The state has raised about $US13.2 billion through state and federal funds, plus a pledge of cap-and-trade proceeds - funds paid by companies to offset carbon emissions.
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