Reply #12: You have to look 10-20 years in the future [View All]

[bananas]

The LA-SF route won't open until 2018, another 3-5 years for San Diego and Sacramento routes.
Large projects like often take longer than expected.
So think in terms of 2018-2028.
Jet fuel and gasoline could be very expensive by then.
Downtown San Diego is already so congested, they're talking about subways.
There's going to be a lot more local rail service, and high-speed rail can act as an extension of that, and a backbone between cities.
There's no room to expand San Diego airport, with HSR the Ontario airport can be used for overflow.
Las Vegas has a similar problem with their airport, they're looking at building a new one in Primm,
but 30% of their flights are to cities on the Ca. HSR route, so connecting Vegas means they won't need a new airport.

Here's a comparison of California to Spain: http://cahsr.blogspot.com/2008/07/if-spain-can-do-it-we-definitely-can.html