It looks like Diridon has gotten control and has been able to get the rail authority board to hire a 9 million dollar group to con the public with Diridon’s propaganda.

Could it be that the street-level PR firm Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt, has taken control?

The "plan" being discussed seems to be much more preliminary than was inferred. Unlike health care where "it is more important to do something than get it perfect", high-speed rail better be perfect the first time.

Another thought: will this be BART compatible (wide-gauge) or standard gauge? BART's wide-gauge choice has isolated it from all other equipment @ great expense. I'd prefer we convert BART to be compatible (may make economic sense over many years) and integrate it into the system.

Great, now instead of being able to talk with people in the HSRA, we get some BS from a bunch of paid flacks. The Board of Directors just wants to insulate themselves from the public so they can do what they d*mn well please without even having to listen to objections.

"Ogilvy, which will be paid $9 million for its services," In the past, I was giving 10:1 odds on the proposition that the $10 billion will be p8ssed away with nothing to show for it. I think I can now offer 100:1 odds.

They can hire all the PR firms they want. The fact still remains that the caltrain tracks go straight through every quaint town on the peninsula as well as many (EXPENSIVE) residential communities. Putting a high speed rail on the Caltrain tracks was folly from the beginning and the voters wouldn't have approved it but the proposition was deliberately vague and made the initiative look like a prelim study. I predict endless lawsuits and money wasting on this boondoggle.

What a complete waste of money.