"It doesn't make sense to go back in with the same strategy," Upton said. "If there's something else that seems to work, that's fine."

Kings Co. watching, too

Farmers north of the San Joaquin River aren't the only ones with a keen interest in the lawsuits. High-speed rail opponents from Kings County also are keeping a close eye on developments, and a handful of them traveled to Sacramento for the Nov. 16 hearing and Frawley's ruling.

Kings County is ground zero for a lawsuit that alleges the high-speed rail project violates provisions of Proposition 1A, a bond measure that was approved by California voters in 2008.

But Frank Oliveira, a Kings County farmer and member of Citizens for California High-Speed Rail Accountability, said his organization anticipates bringing its own CEQA lawsuit against the state rail authority after the agency adopts environmental reports for its Fresno-Bakersfield section. That approval is expected in early 2013.

"We're going to eventually get to this point after the environmental process is done in our part of the Valley," Oliveira said. Many of the same issues and concerns in the Madera-Fresno suit also exist in Kings County, he added, including the rail line severing farm parcels along the route without satisfactory solutions for farmers to get from one side of their land to the other.

The California High-Speed Rail Authority has no plans to slow its efforts after winning this legal round.

"We're pleased we can keep moving forward," said Jeffrey Morales, the agency's CEO. "This keeps us on track for meeting our obligations for delivering the project that the Legislature approved."

Morales said the authority is on track to begin dealing with property owners, farmers and businesses to buy right of way along the Merced-Fresno route and to negotiate solutions with farmers who worry about the train line's effect on their operations.

But the agency also is gearing up for the next legal hearing.

"We have to address the merits in the April hearing," Morales said. "We're comfortable that we can answer those questions, and we will at that point. We'll have to satisfy the judge, but we feel good about where we are in the process."