The writer is certainly baffled, and with reason. The sense I have is that CHSRA early on began talking with UP, so UP has been kept aware of CHSRA was planning. UP's response was, "You guys are nuts, but as long as your nutty activity doesn't interfere with us, do what you want." However, CHSRA did not talk much with BNSF. As a result, BNSF has no clue what CHSRA is up to. No surprise there; even CHSRA doesn't know what they are up to, as they stick a wetted finger into the political winds. BNSF has walked into a movie theater halfway through the film, and is now trying to get a sotto voce recap of the first half of the film from the person in the next seat.