One recent design change makes this a world class joke. There will not be a downtown LA terminal for the HSR.
The designers concluded that there are no viable rights of way available into the downtown area for a rail line. Most of the old rail lines were ripped up during the General Motors street car conspiracy. It was determined that all of the proposed access plans and options were too expensive to implement because of land purchases required.
They are now eyeing Victorville as the LA station. 190 miles from LA.
http://trains4america.wordpress.com/2009/04/29/considering-the-desertxpress-la-las-vegas-hsr-option/The list of proposed HSR stations sounds like a subway system. They are too close for a 200 mph train to ever hope of reaching top speed for a beneficial amount of time. To qualify for a station, a city would have to encourage dense, mixed-use development around the station. That is a subway station requirement. HSR is a regional / national transportation system. The location of the stations should be entirely driven by its proximity to local transportation grids. IE Buses and light rail.
http://cahsr.blogspot.com/2008/12/trouble-with-la-union-station.htmlhttp://www.thetransitcoalition.us/a_better_inland_empire/proj_promote_cahsr.htmlhttp://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/show_story.php?id=18018 
