With the final route selection on the Boston Montreal high speed rail study due out in the fall and increased ridership on the Amtrak Vermonter things are looking very positive for the return of a cross border connection. An overview of the project is available here. http://rail.vermont.gov/sites/railroads/files/documents/Boston-Montreal%20HSR%20Study%20Overview.pdf Here is the latest article on the subject. Officials laud local increase in Amtrak Vermonter ridership, paving the way for future rail projects.  By Chris Lindahl at gazettenet.com NORTHAMPTON —  Local ridership of the Amtrak Vermonter has increased by more than half since it was rerouted to Northampton and Greenfield in January, which officials say helps make the case for increased state and federal investment in rail. From January to May 2014, 5,870 passengers used the now-closed Amtrak station in Amherst. During that same period this year, 7,014 passengers used the Northampton station and 2,820 use...

The environmental study is done and I doubt it will reach Montreal in my lifetime or through that route but its a good start revitalizing passenger rail in the USA. http://www.nhhsrail.com/

As we patiently wait for two more HSR studies to come out relating to the Ontario-Quebec corridor (the SNCF-Quebec Study and the Federal/Ontario/Quebec study) we have unwittingly fallen into the same paralysis that has prevented high speed rail from becoming reality for the last twenty years. I call the phenomenon "study paralysis". Indeed this phenomenon is not unique to the subject of high speed rail but study paralysis is epidemic in Canada relating to HSR. In Alberta, there are two new positive HSR studies already completed and nothing has happened. In fact the provincial government has gone backwards to 1960s era planning by announcing 5 billion dollars in provincial highway spending in the next few years. In Ontario , the study paralysis phenomenon is beyond belief. Twenty years of studies completed and we are anxiously awaiting two more studies to be done. We have had zero commitment from any federal government in the past. The present government has also never state...

On November 16th, 2009 the Canadian Government Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities /Comité permanent des transports, de l’infrastructure et des collectivité called CN Rail as a Witness at their Hearings into High Speed Rail in Canada. High Speed Rail Canada has posted the complete audio from the CN Rail presentation on it's website at http://highspeedrail.ca . Click on the HSR Hearings Tab to listen to it. It is clear from the CN Rail prospective they do not want any form of the incremental approach to higher speed rail on existing freight track.(eg; like the acela in the USA)

High Speed Rail Canada - High Noon for High Speed Rail Series Canada-USA High Speed Possibilities - Part 1 Montreal-Boston Paul Langan, Founder High Speed Rail Canada http://highspeedrail.ca/ - 11/11/09 The High Speed Rail (HSR) passenger rail renewal is coming to North America the question is where will it be implemented.I would like to examine the cross border opportunities for HSR that have been put forward. Four possible passenger rail corridors connecting Canada and the USA exist. They are; Vancouver BC to Seattle WA , Windsor ON to Detroit MI , Montreal QC - New York NY and Montreal QC-Boston MA. I would like to examine the Montreal-Boston HSR proposal first. All these cross border corridors share three significant fundamental challenges. 1. A multitude of political stakeholders - The more governments that are involved the process the slower the ability to get change to occur. This is especially true between Canada and the USA where dialogue and cooperation on passenger rail is...