Hear, hear! We will also be voting no on the SF/LA train, for the reasons you cited. In addition, we have a “SMART” train proposal up here in Sonoma/Marin counties that has been up for a vote already several times and been voted down. I will be voting against that one again, too. They want to run the thing to Larkspur, for heaven’s sake, and then if you want to go into SF you have to take the ferry. That means that to get to the city from Santa Rosa, it will cost you about $20 — each way! And the ferry takes forever! And $20 is the *subsidized* cost! Who is going to commute via train & ferry when it costs you $40 round trip? That’s a no, thank you.
My husband and I spent several months in Europe a few years ago and used the trains there extensively. They were terrific! But until they can make passenger trains here more cost-effective, it’s a no go.
The European train system is nice. Several years ago my husband and I flew into Frankfurt Am Main in Germany. We walked downstairs in the airport and caught a train into the main train station. We disembarked, walked upstairs to the intercity trains and boarded an ICE train to Munich. It was very handy, especially compared to getting around the San Francisco area before BART was extended to the airport. Two weeks later, at Idstein, outside Frankfurt, we missed the last train into the city and chased it along the autobahn at 140 km per hour until we caught up to it. The conductor let us board without tickets on the promise of paying when we reached the station at Frankfurt.
My husband is a train nut, which means I am a train nut also since he eats, sleeps and dreams trains. A week from tomorrow we will be recuperating from the election at the International Rail Fair in Roseville. Even so, I cannot support California building this high-speed train until it can be shown to be cost-effective, and I doubt that will ever happen. The state gets too caught up in fads or trends and spends money like drunken sailors on shore leave. I can imagine the daily hassle of commuting from Larkspur to SFO. We have an ACE train running through our city to the South Bay but my husband isn’t interested in using it to commute since it hamstrings his mobility over there. I love the romance and history of trains but high-speed in California ain’t where it’s at. Besides, how much scenery can you enjoy when you are whipping along at 200 mph?