"This is not about building a railroad, it's about getting the funding. Once California gets the federal funds, they can cancel the project, but still retain the funds, if it is used for "other" transportation projects."
The time was not right to pursue the conversation, but I found the thought to be interesting.
I suggest a book on the topic by a disaffected leftist reporter by the name of Richard Trainor: Paradise Lost?. The bulk of the book is about exactly this sort of big-budget transportation "infrastructure" scam. The essence is a scheme called "pump and dump," wherein the news about these projects bring big stock benefits for the well-connected. DiFi is a big player in this racket because hubby dear sits on a lot of the boards of directors of the construction and development companies looking to cash in on the game. These political whores don't care if the train is ever built. They ride the run on pennny stock when the project is announced, pay off the union bigwigs with an inside tip, and unload it on the pension holders when they're ready to let the bad news drop. That of course lets the taxpayer pick up the tab if the returns fall below their wildly inflated expectations.
If the public employees of this state knew what a racket their unions were, they'd rebel, big time. Which is why Trainor was never able to get a periodical publication to run it.