HSR has no money for work in LA anyway, but planning continues. In some form. Reading between the lines of this LAT article, though, it looks a lot like LA will be HSR trains on conventional rail tracks (Metrolink) from some point between Palmdale and Burbank into LA, much like in the Bay Area where HSR has pretty much given up on anything better than a fully grade-separated, electrified Caltrain. The writer (Ralph Vartabedian) has pretty much given up on anything better (and probably on HSR as a project); it's obvious with this article.

So alternative E2 is dead and E3 is dying. Which one is Bob's, or is his something else that's still under consideration?

[www.latimes.com]

PS: the article makes it look like any planning or other work on the route is useless because of lackamunny, but there is a point to adopting a route way before any real funding appears. Once the route's adopted, "hardship and preservation" land purchases (voluntary, not eminent domain) can be done without jeopardizing future federal funding, and local agencies have to include it in their General Plans along with whatever land use adjustments make sense given the route's presence. That makes future work (when/if money appears) a little easier. If the project does eventually dry up and blow away, not much land has been taken off the market (it can be resold) and the General Plans can be fixed when convenient to remove the route. Has been done with highways, sometimes holding the land for many decades, and should work the same for HSR.