LAX-Palmdale Rail Line in Doubt : Transportation: The project’s backers say they no longer believe the system can be privately financed. Officials warn state funds are not available.

State officials warned Tuesday that prospects for a proposed high-speed rail line between Los Angeles International Airport and Palmdale could be dampened if its private backers demand substantial public funding.

The warnings followed the disclosure Monday by proponents of the 69-mile, multibillion-dollar system that they no longer believe the project can be privately financed, as originally expected.

Assemblyman Richard Katz (D-Panorama City), who had been a strong backer of the rail project, said he was surprised and disturbed to learn its backers are now seeking a public subsidy.

“I think it’s premature to talk about public funding,” Katz said.

And Carl Williams, an assistant director with the state Department of Transportation, noted that the proposal is intended for a state program designed to showcase ambitious ventures built with private money.

The proposed rail line is one of eight projects statewide submitted to Caltrans--and the only one from Los Angeles County--as part of an experimental state privatization program. The program’s rules forbid the use of state or federal funds for the projects, but do allow some local funding.

“If it gets to the point where the local contribution is the main contribution, we’d start to worry about that,” Williams said.

Neither county transportation officials nor officials with the private companies backing the train proposal were clear Tuesday on just how much public money might be sought. But one county official said Monday that the bill could reach $100 million annually.

A consortium led by the Perini Corp. of Framingham, Mass., said it could have the line’s first $1-billion segment--36 miles from LAX to Santa Clarita--built and operating by 1997. A second, 33-mile segment to Palmdale would be constructed later.

The consortium has proposed running the train along the state-owned right-of-ways along the San Diego, Golden State and Antelope Valley freeways. The electrically powered system would use magnetic levitation technology to reach speeds up to 100 m.p.h.

A panel of the county’s Transportation Commission on Monday agreed to explore public funding for the rail project. County officials said they agreed to consider helping finance the project after ridership projections dropped from about 100,000 riders a day to 55,000.

The full commission is set to consider the issue Aug. 22. But commission Executive Director Neil Peterson said Tuesday that county officials, while exploring a public subsidy, could also help advise the train’s backers on ways the project still might be entirely privately financed.

County Supervisor Ed Edelman, the chairman of the county commission, said he too was surprised by the consortium’s request for public funding. Edelman said he would be “skeptical” about giving the project public funds when the commission has already planned to help finance many other rail projects.

Katz, who chairs the state Assembly’s Transportation Committee, said he did not believe that local funds could be allocated under the guidelines of the state’s program.