Yes, it's happened. Even the UK, which has an arguably worse NIMBY problem than California, managed it (though it's getting close to your 20-year deadline): ht

Yes, it's happened. Even the UK, which has an arguably worse NIMBY problem than California, managed it (though it's getting close to your 20-year deadline): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Speed_1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Speed_1 There have of course also been several urban rail projects within Greater London during that time. Other examples of relevance: * LGV Sud Europe Atlantique * Wendlingen–Ulm high-speed railway * pretty much all of Spain's high-speed rail network.