The risk of starting it in Fresno is that if you don't finish (which I think is likely), you are left with something of very little value srving few people with

The risk of starting it in Fresno is that if you don't finish (which I think is likely), you are left with something of very little value srving few people with low need for rail. If you start in SF or LA, you at least have a fast train serving an area with terrible traffic and a population of millions.