By Dave Gram
Associated Press / February 16, 2011

MONTPELIER, Vt.—Gov. Peter Shumlin said Wednesday he's hoping to see high-speed passenger rail linking New York and Montreal through Vermont and a pipeline bringing natural gas from Canada as far south as Rutland in the coming years.

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Shumlin just returned from a brief trip to Quebec, where he met with Premier Jean Charest and other senior officials to talk about energy, transportation, trade and other issues. He was accompanied on the trip by Lt. Gov. Phil Scott and former Lt. Gov. Brian Dubie, Shumlin's rival in last November's election.

The state's utilities recently signed up to buy enough electricity from the provincial utility Hydro-Quebec to supply about 200,000 Vermont homes. Shumlin said Quebec officials discussed possibly adding to that deal.

"Everyone's trying to sell us power," Shumlin said. The New England market has excess generating capacity, and Vermont utilities have been approached with several offers, he said.

"It's a buyer's market," Shumlin said.

The Vermont and Quebec government and business leaders also discussed Shumlin's hope to expand the availability of natural gas beyond Franklin and Chittenden counties in northwestern Vermont south to Middlebury and eventually to Rutland. Vermont Gas Systems imports the gas it sells from Canada.

On rail, Shumlin said plans are in the works for high-speed passenger service linking New York and Montreal through Hartford, Conn., Springfield, Mass., and the Connecticut River Valley of Vermont. He said the jog east through New England, rather than straight north and south through New York state, would accommodate a spur linking Springfield and Boston.

Amtrak runs passenger rail along the route north from New York to St. Albans, Vt., near the Canadian border. Shumlin's goal is to have the service complete the last leg of the journey to Montreal and upgrade the entire route to be faster.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2011/02/16/vt_gov_back_from_quebec_talks_rail_natural_gas/

There's more, but only about trains: Quebec seeks high-speed rail funding:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110212/bs_afp/canadatransportrailfrance_20110212054047