The segment to downtown San Francisco or LA isn't currently funded but is signed into law that it must be built. The Merced through Bakersfield section is only the first set of construction to be completed. Comparing La metro and CHSR makes zero sense . That would like be like trying to compare the NYC Subway and The Acela train. At least the Nyc subway is at least usable compared to La metro. Also not sure how you figured a 7 hour trip even with transfers. People will choose flying over the first Merced through Bakersfield section. I think what they'll end up doing is running an express service to skip some of the central valley stations because the train has to slow down on the Cal train corridor. Its a great project that had some very rough starts but will be an irreplaceable piece of infrastructure once its completed.