Former Silicon Valley actor TJ Miller has been charged for allegedly reporting a fake bomb threat while travelling on a train in the US, officials said.

Miller was arrested on Tuesday (AEDT) at LaGuardia Airport in Queens, New York, after he called police from an Amtrak train to report a female passenger with “a bomb in her bag”.

The 36-year-old is accused of “intentionally conveying to law enforcement false information about an explosive device.”

Miller faces up to five years in prison if found guilty. He appeared before a US District Judge  in New Haven, Connecticut on Tuesday and was released on a $US100,000 bond.

According to a Department of Justice (DOJ) press release, Miller called 911 during a train ride on March 18, reporting a woman with “brown hair and a scarf” was carrying a device on the Amtrak Train 2256 traveling from Washington to New York.

The train was stopped passengers were told to detrain before bomb squad members boarded and searched the train.

No evidence of a bomb was found and when investigators called Miller back he gave a different discription of the woman.

He reportedly said that the female passenger “kept checking her bag without taking anything out”, asking attendants what the next stop was and seemed to want to leave her bag on the train.

“I am worried for everyone on that train, someone has to check that lady out,” he is quoted as saying.

Despite Miller’s report, he was found on Amtrak train 2258, not 2256. That train was also searched and no explosive devices were found, according to authorities.

Train staff were interviewed by DOJ officials, who said Miller appeared intoxicated when boarding the train, and that he had consumed “multiple drinks” onboard.

Miller was asked by investigators on the phone if he had consumed any alcohol after officers reportedly detected slurring in his voice to which he replied: “One glass of wine”.

Amtrak officers also said Miller been involved “in hostile exchanges with a woman who was sitting in a different row from him in the first-class car.”