[ardecila]

Arguably the language of Prop 1A also requires San Jose and Palmdale to be on the mainline. Altamont and the Grapevine would bypass both of these cities, respectively.

Same problem - the Legislature got too specific when drafting the language, and now it has forced CHSRA into costly decisions to the tune of tens of billions of dollars.

Part of me agrees that San Jose should be on the mainline, it is the transportation hub of Silicon Valley with ample light rail/bus and eventually BART connections. A better, more transit-oriented future for Silicon Valley (California's biggest economic engine) really requires better alternatives to the car than what exist today.

Palmdale, not so much. Maybe with Virgin considering a route for Las Vegas trains into the LA basin via Cajon Pass, the HSR mainline can be rerouted to the Grapevine... but again, this would require an amendment to Prop 1A and is unlikely to pass.