They know how to build rail on easy mode in a country where the leadership is aligned to it, and not how to build it in Freedomia where the political realities were carved in stone in 2007 and subsequent governors have opposed, ignored, or weakly supported the project.

“I think” you just made that up. The cost estimate that appeared on the ballot proposition was $45 billion, 2007 dollars, which is $65 billion current dollars.

I hope to see Jalopnik’s future coverage of the Caltrans budget, which every single year wastes over $20 billion on car projects with little oversight, no particular goals, and no detectable benefits.

This reflects badly on SNCF and says basically nothing about CAHSR. If you think “political” means “irrelevant” you aren’t ready to work on this project. The Central Valley route was literally written into the state constitution by a plebiscite. To say “oh we should simply move the route to I-5" means SNCF knows…

It isn’t “a boner” it is that the future transportation needs of the state simply cannot be met by air travel, in a way that is compatible with legislated CO2 reduction targets and budgets. As the state legislative analyst has pointed out twice, adding the equivalent capacity of airports and roads would cost at least…