NATION - High-speed passenger rail was a clear winner in stimulus conference negotiations, securing more than four times the funding that was included in either the House or Senate bill, according to preliminary information released on the stimulus agreement.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., pushed to add $8 billion for high-speed rail to the final bill, a sum that people familiar with the negotiations saywould largely benefit construction of a magnetic-levitation, or "maglev," train between Las Vegas and Southern California.

Bruce Aguilera, chairman of the California-Nevada Super Speed Train Commission, said he spoke to Reid last month about including money for the project in the stimulus bill. At the time, Reid told Aguilera that he was a big supporter of maglev but would have to see how talks progressed.

Jon Summers, a spokesman for Reid, said the $8 billion is for competitive high-speed rail grants and that all states would have to apply for the funding. He said the maglev is just one project that would be eligible.

He also said Reid supported the funding increase because high-speed rail is a priority of President Obama. In a speech Feb. 10 in Florida, Obama said he wanted to see more "high-speed rail where it can be constructed."

But critics said the additional funding looks suspiciously like an congressionally directed earmark, which Democratic leaders and the president have promised to keep put of the financial recovery bill (HR 1).