High-Speed Rail Miracles

While I don't believe in them, I always have hope. (Enrico Fermi was once overheard to say, when someone spotted a horseshoe on his desk and asked him if he believed in them, "No, of course not. However, I understand that they work whether you believe in them or not!") There are several forces hovering in the wings that could bring this juggernaut of a misconceived HSR project to a halt. One possible cudgel is lawsuits. There are several pending and I believe that they have a very strong case. Unfortunately -- and here I need to interject my relentless pessimism -- in a Democratic state, Democrat appointed judges tend to favor Democrat policies. What judge would take it upon himself to stop a project that promises to bring a free $3.3 billion federal dollars into California? We'll see. The other force at work is the recent surfacing of serious concerns by Union Pacific Railroad and BNSF, the first and second largest freight rail carriers in the US. Their hostility to the CHSRA and its shenanigans is quite transparent in their letters and memos. For example, Union Pacific made it clear to the CHSRA that they have absolute authority over inter-city rail on the Caltrain corridor and have not granted permission to the CHSRA to operate on the corridor. And, as they say about opera, it's not over until the Class-I freight carriers sing!