March 12, 2009 5:16PM 

# Thursday Podcast: ‘It’s Not High Speed Rail’ 

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President Obama’s stimulus plan included about $8 billion for “high-speed rail” projects throughout the country.

But what Obama has in mind isn’t anything like the Japanese trains that have been clocked at over 300 miles per hour, says Cato Senior Fellow Randal O’Toole in Thursday’s [Cato Daily Podcast](https://www.cato.org/dailypodcast/podcast-archive.php?podcast_id=852). At best, it’s “moderate-speed rail,” and won’t include an interconnected network that will allow passenger transportation from coast to coast.

For more on American rail projects, check out O’Toole’s Policy Analysis, [*High-Speed Rail: The Wrong Road for America*](https://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa-625.pdf).

##### Related Tags 

[Energy and Environment](https://www.cato.org/research/energy-environment) 

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