[southernnorthcarolina]

Rail, which is by definition fixed, and unable to rapidly adjust to shifting development patterns, takes people from where they aren't to where they don't want to go. Other modes of transportation are generally needed at both ends of the trip.

In very densly populated corridors (e.g., Washington - Baltimore - Philadelphia - New York - Boston), an upgrade of existing Amtrack lines to high-speed rail might make sense. A Washington to Manhattan train trip, for example, could be made much faster, and more dependable, than a cab to Reagan Airport / flight to LaGuardia / cab to Midtown trip.

But California? I can't see it. Not given the expense of starting from scratch, as opposed to using existing lines; and not given the distance between San Diego and San Francisco. Maybe a high-speed San Diego to LA line might make sense, but it's a long haul from LA to SF, and planes are more cost effective.

However, this is gummint money, and therefore free, right? It never ceases to amaze that there are so many people who cannot mentally connect taxpayer-funded expenditures to, well, taxes.

[editor-surveyor]

>> “But California? I can’t see it.” <<

.
This project is specifically designed to make Westlands Irrigation District properties unusable to farm.

Westlands property owners are notoriously conservative.

.