The "New England Vision" is the map put together by the collective New England states for inclusion in USDOT's vision, so it's been blessed accordingly by each of the constituent states. Of course that means Deval & Tim had to make their shameless South Coast Rail plug. Don't worry...there is no risk of the feds cutting us a check for that one.
The Ethan Allen Express extension in VT from Rutland to Burlington is real...they're already upgrading the freight track as step 1 in securing funding for 60 MPH service. But I don't know WTF that southern half of the Western Corridor from Albany-Bennington-Rutland is supposed to be. Some VTTrans planner leaving his fantasy map in the photocopier??? It spends half its distance inside the Green Mountain Nat'l Forest. That one's a laugher.
Maine is serious about studying long-term use of the St. Lawrence & Atlantic main for passenger service to Canada. The freight carrier there is robust enough to wring some upside out of getting passenger-speed track bootstrapped onto the biggest contiguous pan-Northern New England mainline. The problem, as always, is what happens the second you cross the NH border. Pfft! goes the public support. It looks like the mapmaker gave up tracing the actual ROW's up there, blasted a straight arc through the forest, and called it a "long-range corridor". Erm...no.
There might be some possibilities here if the VIA Rail Corridor service gets HSR'd between Quebec City and Montreal and the NEC branchlines to the far north (Downeaster, Adirondack, Montrealer/Vermonter) get fast-speed diesel and really flush the ridership through. But you're talking regular-speed service on regular freight lines, a 1 round-trip per day type deal to cut across New England without needing to backtrack to higher-density trackage to the south. 60-80 MPH, hardly any intermediate stops (and bare-platform, shelterless, 1-door loading mini-highs for what few stops it does make), and bootstrapping on top of freight upgrades to maximize the upside for all stakeholders. And state-driven advocacy...this would be a VTTrans-MEDOT tag team with the feds filling in yet again for deadbeat New Hampshire, public-private partnership with the freight carrier, and some reciprocal interest from Quebec province. Bootstappy thrift...maybe, if the stakeholders are motivated enough. But HSR it will never be.
