SAN FRANCISCO -- "A lot of what's in here is the result of criticisms and suggestions that have come not only from the Legislature, but also from their peer review group and from the Legislative Analyst's Office," Richard said. "I don't want to be presumptuous, but it is my hope that they will look at this and say, 'OK, this makes more sense.'"

Authority members said they took those often-harsh comments to heart as they revised the November plan. The vote Thursday was 6-0 with two members absent.

"The most significant changes, the blended approach in particular, were directly tied to external recommendations to the authority," said Jeff Morales, an engineer for Parsons Brinckerhoff, the consulting company that is serving as the authority's project manager.

But Richard acknowledged that high-speed rail could remain a tough sell in the state Capitol.

"It's partly a matter of how broadly the question is defined," Richard said. "Are we sitting down to decide the fate of a $68 billion high-speed rail program? Or should the state spend $2.7 billion in bond money to get $3.3 billion in federal money to build this piece as it now fits into this business plan? That's a much more narrow question, and a more easily digestible question."

If legislators say no to the budget request, Richard said, it would represent a "fundamental setback" for the future of high-speed trains in the state. "If the Legislature decides that way, we would not be building high-speed rail, at least not for the foreseeable future."

The federal money would disappear because it requires that California put up its own matching funds. And, Richard added, budding interest among the private sector -- including companies that would pay for the rights to operate the system -- would also go away.

Several key legislative hearings will be held in the coming days that could provide a barometer of the project's future. The state Senate's transportation committee will meet Tuesday, and high-speed rail committees for both the Assembly and Senate will meet Wednesday.

Many of the speakers here Thursday praised the new business plan's move toward a blended system that could commence operation within 10 years.

But Ted Crocker, co-founder of a group called High-Speed Boondoggle, described the blended system as "a prime example of false economy."

"This is not a money saver," Crocker told the authority board. "When you do something half-assed to save money or because you don't have the money, it always costs more in the end. Yet here you are, jumping on the blended-approach bandwagon."

Frank Oliveira, a Hanford-area farmer who is among the leaders of CCHSRA, a Kings County group that opposes the proposed route through Kings County, said he doesn't believe the revised business plan meets the requirements of Proposition 1A, the high-speed rail bond approved by California voters in 2008.

"This plan is better, faster and cheaper, but like the previous business plan, it fails to comply with Prop. 1A on cost, funding, timing and trip time," Oliveira said. "That said, approving this plan as drafted would be dishonest and appropriately challenged. Do the right thing and comply with the law, or don't to this project."

While Oliveira and other critics have become fixtures at board meetings to voice concern about the project's cost and its effects on farmland in rural areas, a group of four young Fresnans said they see the fast trains as important investments for future generations.

"You do have support" in the Valley, said Kristen Kawaguchi, 25. "It's the teenagers, the young professionals and the 30-somethings who will need this system in the future. This will change our lives."

Kawaguchi works for the Fresno County Economic Development Corporation, which has long favored the high-speed rail program. She was joined by fellow EDC employees Fernando Santillan, 26; David Kennedy, 25; and Matt Severson, 23. The quartet said their support is independent from their workplace allegiances.

"We've decided to start advocating on behalf of people like us, young professionals in their 20s who so far haven't had much of a voice in this," Kennedy said. "We're working to fill that void."

Santillan said that within the next few weeks, he expects to announce a formal group of young professionals from the Valley to weigh in more actively as the debate heats up in Sacramento. "We can't take for granted that this is a done deal," he said.