Authorities in the southern German state said Tuesday they had finalised 1.85 billion euros (2.6 billion dollars) in financing for the automatic transport, which is to float between central Munich and its airport, 37 kilometres (23 miles) away.

Starting in 2014, travellers would see the 40-minute trip cut to just 10 by the driverless Transrapid, or Maglev train which is able to run at 450 kilometres per hour (280 miles per hour).

Munich's center-left government says the cost is too high, however, and 60 percent of Bavarians also oppose the plan, according to a late August poll.

The Maglev, designed and built by engineering groups Siemens and ThyssenKrupp, is meant to represent German prowess in rail technology.

But a test train collided in September 2006 at 170 kilometres (105 miles) an hour with a parked maintenance vehicle, killing 23 people.

European plans to build a working version of the Transrapid have been on hold since the crash.

The only operating line is in China where the Maglev whisks travellers between Shanghai's financial district and the city's Pudong airport along a 30-kilometre (19-mile track.

But now after months of talks, "the Bavarian state, industrialists and the Deutsche Bahn railway have signed an agreement to build this line," the Bavarian officials said.

Financing of the project, a large part of which is to come from the German federal government, required an additional 165 million euros (232 million dollars) to round out the total estimated cost of 1.85 billion.

In all, the German government is to pay 925 million euros, Bavaria to contribute 490 million, the German railway 235 million, Munich's airport 100 million, Siemens and ThyssenKrupp 50 million and the European Union 50 million.

Bavarian prime minister Edmund Stoiber, who is to leave his post and also step down as head of the regional conservative CSU party hailed the deal while denying he had gotten a golden "going away present" as critics have claimed.

"The Transrapid is a beacon of high technology 'made in Germany'," Stoiber said.

In general, however, the beacon has struggled to shine, and even an extension of its Chinese line has been postponed.

Recent political differences between Berlin and Beijing could set those plans back even further.

A German plan to link the northern cities of Berlin and Hamburg broke down in February 2000 and convincing the federal government to back the Bavarian project required steadfast negotiations.

Elsewhere, a mooted plan exists to link Teheran with Iran's holy city of Mashad, 800 kilometres (500 miles) to the northeast, but it is still in early stages of planning and there again, political problems could scupper a deal.

Vague interest has been expressed in the Maglev train in the Arabian pensinsula, the Netherlands and the United States but nothing concrete has emerged so far.

The Transrapid also has two rivals close to home, the German ICE and French TGV high-speed trains.

On April 3, a supercharged TGV smashed the world speed record for a train on rails, hitting 574.8 kilometres (357.2 miles) per hour, nearly half the speed of sound, on a new high-speed line in northeastern France.

The ICE and TGV can also run on normal train tracks, while the Maglev operates only on an expensive custom-built line.

But Tuesday's announcement meant the Maglev should finally get a chance to play at home, and possibly pave the way to more away matches as well.

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