Posted by Tim, a resident of the University South neighborhood, on Jul 25, 2012 at 1:08 pm

How much money is being wasted on all these lawsuits? And whose?

Posted by Barbara, a resident of the Barron Park neighborhood, on Jul 25, 2012 at 2:25 pm

Another 'bait and switch' by the High-Speed Rail Authority.

HSR promised to scale back to a two-track system on Caltrain peninsula tracks, and legislators relied on those assurances during deliberations preceding their vote.

Now HSR attorneys are effectively saying 'fooled you again.'

How many negative surprises can HSR deliver before this rises to criminal conduct? Why should anyone trust a word HSR says?

Posted by Julian, a resident of the Palo Verde neighborhood, on Jul 25, 2012 at 3:42 pm

@Barbara: you said it!

Posted by Frankie, a resident of the Charleston Meadows neighborhood, on Jul 25, 2012 at 4:41 pm

I darn well trust that the city is not using tax payer money to fuel this frivolous lawsuit. If so those involved must revisit the ethics of democracy as these monies would be better spentrepresenting the majority of Palo Altans that support the bullet train. Let's work on beautifying the rail as it passes on through by spending on mitigation such as planting tree walls and noise cancelling technologies.

Posted by Nelson, a resident of the Palo Alto Hills neighborhood, on Jul 25, 2012 at 7:12 pm

High speed rails must run on its own exclusive and independent tracks. In Japan, trains can attain speeds of 240 km/h, but ongoing projects to raise peak speeds at 300 km/h aim at maintaining competitiveness of rail passenger transport versus air. In France, the TGV Sud-Est (Trains a Grande Vitesse) reaches speeds of 270 km/h while the TGV Atlantique can cruise at speeds of 300 km/h. One of the key advantages of such a system is since passengers trains have their exclusive tracks, the efficiency of rail freight transport increases as it inherit the almost exclusive use of the conventional rail system. You avoid accidents as well...so no wonder the Governor and the HSRA wants 4 tracks. Do you think this blended approach was anything more than a diluted vision by a skeptic lawyered up "NIMBY". Wake up Palo Alto and take the lead -- withdraw and save face. Support the 4 track system and the Governor. Your polls are all fantasy. The voters voted for a HSR, not a mush mash of blended tracks and unsafe control networks. Isolation is the solution for HSR. They will only add cars and the population will only increase. Where is your blended system then? No thanks to "blended".

Posted by Robert, a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood, on Jul 25, 2012 at 8:24 pm

It's so obvious that these CHSRA people are outright liars. The day after the vote in the legislature, I read that Gorden and Hill thought the Peninsula had won because CHSRA had "promised" only two-tracks on the Peninsula (the infamous "blended system"). Then a few days later we read that CHSRA wanted 3 tracks from California Ave north for about 15 miles. Now they won't settle the lawsuit because they insist on 4 tracks! HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE PEOPLE TO WAKE UP? Is the citizenry blissfully unaware of the chicanery that's taking place?

Chicanery that Jerry Brown is aiding and abetting. I will definitely vote AGAINST Brown's tax-increase initiative in November. It will be his fault for pushing the state into deeper and deeper debt so he could have a legacy to match his father's aquaduct project and pay back the construction companies and labor unions for their support against Meg Whitman. It's really sad when the only way that CHSRA can get its way is through deception (the way Nov. 2008 ballot initiative was framed), false promises (that the public would be involved in the design process when it was just a way of giving the public a way of thinking it would have an influence), lying (re the 4 tracks), and effective bribery (including pork for the districts of Democratic Senators to get them to vote for Brown's fiasco). I have never seen a more cynical ramrod process in my life. It's simultaneously nauseating and infuriating.

Posted by Robert, a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood, on Jul 25, 2012 at 8:30 pm

@Frankie: you're blowing smoke. What's your evidence for believing that a majority of Palo Altans "support the bullet train"? Please don't say the election of 2008! That's too stupid an answer to take seriously. We've come a heck of a long way since then. Unless Palo Alto differs markedly from the most recent state-wide polls done, the sentiment in this city has shifted dramatically as we've learned that project won't cost anything like represented, realized the grim state of the economy in CA, and seen what a bunch of incompetent liars are in charge of this fiasco project.

Posted by Robert, a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood, on Jul 25, 2012 at 8:38 pm

@Nelson: you wrote, "Support the 4 track system and the Governor. Your polls are all fantasy."

Really, and what evidence do you have that the latest Field Polls are "fantasy"? Frankly, sir, your statement is based on nothing more than wish-fulfillment. Your hope that they are fantasy has morphed into a claim that they definitely are fantasy. All you have is the fact that 52.7% of the voters were duped into voting to support the deceptive Prop. 1A in Nov. 2008. Ever since then, as the nature of this boondoggle began to become clear, public opinion has turned against it. To you, that's all "fantasy." Au contraire, monsieur, au contraire.

P.S. Support the Governor? That's rich!!! Why should any fiscally responsible citizen support Jerry Brown on this project when he got it through the Legislature by sneaky timing and de facto bribes/pork to legislators and when his support stems from a promise to pay back the unions and construction firms for supporting him against Whitman. There's not a damned thing noble or admirable about what Jerry Brown has done re HSR. To the contrary.

Posted by Rockridge Kid, a resident of another community, on Jul 29, 2012 at 12:01 pm

The communities that are engaging in this litigation better remember that Stuart Flashman is not a planner, he is a litigator. He will not make it a better project. He ALWAYS attempts to delay the projects, force the opponents to spend time and money in lengthy court proceedings in hope the project will be withdrawn.

A more effective strategy would be to negotiate funding for reasonable mitigation measures.