[Hugin]

Actually it’s a different train, the commuter train between SF and San Jose. It’s a line that’s actually full a lot of the time. Of course the diesels work fine. But Trump shares the liberal love of trains.

[Drago]

The new “HSR” will be using “CalTrain” tracks on the peninsula between SF and the San Jose area. This came about when the HSR became a “blended” (slow) system due to resident objections and cost.

http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/news/2016/05/25/peninsula-opponents-trash-high-speed-rails-blended.html

http://www.caltrain.com/projectsplans/CaltrainModernization/BlendedSystem.html

http://www.hsr.ca.gov/docs/newsroom/fact%20sheets/Caltrain_Factsheet_Final_102715.pdf

[roadcat]

Of course the diesels work fine.

Keep in mind that the CalTrans diesels are actually diesel/electric hybrids. The train cars move via electric motors in the wheels, nothing to do with the diesel engine. The diesel engine drives a generator providing electricity to the electric motors that propel the train. And they work just fine. Taxpayers were fed a lie, that the trains "needed" to be electrified - when they already were.