The train would begin the trip in the city and take about an hour and a half from the station to downtown Los Angeles, according to plans. The first leg would be about six minutes, stopping at Santa Monica Beach, where a private jet would take passengers to Santa Monica International Airport. Officials said the project would run for at least 40 months.

"We want to take an iconic rail line between Los Angeles and the East Coast and connect it not only historically significant, but also to places with the most exciting transit future," said Michael Leach, L.A.C.S.'s chief financial officer.

Construction will initially be done in a series of phases, starting under the bridge that carries the L.A. River north to the East Coast, through downtown, as well as on the proposed tracks. It would eventually span nine miles from Santa Monica to the Pacific Ocean, in what officials have predicted would be an iconic feat of railroad engineering.

There was excitement early this year when an announcement was made that an American company owned by Russian President Vladimir Putin would build the bridge, called the Great Moscow-Sevastopol.