Many people in California are opposed to the high cost for high speed rail to build a train on a route that won't be competitive with plane or even driving oneself.
Others do not like the train being routed theough their neighborhood, some of which might require taking of land with what some consider inadequate compensation.
The NIMBYs are out in force, for sure.
Much of the opposition comes from people who built or bought homes alongside the tracks in the Peninsula between San Francisco and San Jose. Now they say they worry about noise, for example, tho HSR will probably be less noisy than the conventional trains running now, and that were running when the NIMBYs bought their rail-side properties.
But polling shows that California citizens continue to favor the CAHSR project despite the loud opposition. And in the recent election, one candidate for governor made anti-HSR a big part of his campaign, and he lost in a landslide.
The train will take what, 3 or 4 hours downtown L.A. to downtown S.F. Don't try that in a car. LOL. It would take twice the time.
HSR is quite competitive with flying when you consider getting to the airport from your downtown office, going thru security, waiting to board, then flying time is almost the least of it, before at the other end deboarding, renting a car or getting a taxi to get downtown to your business meeting. Never mind many, many European examples of successful HSR routes. Even Amtrak's slow boat Acelas taking 3 hours D.C.-NYC and the Regionals taking 4 hours together take more than 2/3rd of the combined air/train market.
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As for the notion that the freight lines care at all whatsoever, No. Just No. CAHSR will not run on their tracks. Near or even beside their tracks for much of the way, but in no way will HSR interfere with the freight operations.
Heavy freight trains degrade and destroy the roadbed and tracks for HSR, and HSR can't safely run on ordinary tracks at high speed. So they will Not get in each other's way.