While I am not going to get into the CAHSR mission / plan / organization, I do want to point out that high speed rail freight is a reality in France.

Other than the postal TGV which in itself is a TGV train set and can run at anytime (doesn't count for this topic) SNCF does runs two 125 MPH freight trains almost every night when the TGV passenger system is shut down for the day.

A friend of mine who works for SNCF and is an avid videographer hunted the elusive MVGV 200 for a few weeks trying to find the perfect place to capture the 'ghost train'.

MVGV 200 LGV Freight Train

The MVGV 200 is the only freight train that runs on the TGV lines. It has specially modified signaling in the locomotives and freight cars that have disc instead of the traditional tread brakes and travels between Lyon and Paris.

How this would be applied to the US remains to be seen.