ROCKLAND - Independent gubernatorial candidate Barbara Merrill on Tuesday proposed a passenger train service between Portland and Montreal that would get part of its revenue from an onboard casino.

Merrill unveiled her plan for the "Maine to Montreal High Roller" at a news conference held on the back of a passenger train outside a renovated station in this midcoast city.

"It´s time," she said, "to get Maine´s economy off the branch line and onto the fast track" by completing a passenger rail link to Canada that can provide access to the rest of North America.

"Instead of being at the end of the line, Maine will be the connection between New York and Boston in the Northeast and Montreal and Toronto in Canada," Merrill said.

Her announcement came one day after Democratic Gov. John Baldacci, who is seeking a second term, unveiled a plan to push for expanded passenger rail service to interior and coastal communities.

Noting that the Downeaster, which connects Boston and Portland, is setting monthly ridership records while spurring economic development in communities along its route, Baldacci said it was time to expand passenger service beyond Maine´s largest city.

Merrill said the High Roller should be financed with state transportation funds and federal assistance, with part of the money coming from a casino.

"Specifically, I propose selling the right to operate casino cars on the train between Portland and Montreal as it passes through Maine," she said. The casino cars would be separate from traditional dining cars, seating and sleeper cars, she added.

Merrill applauded the revival of passenger rail service between Brunswick and Rockland but said that line is, in some ways, "a metaphor for the challenge facing Maine."

"Today, Maine, just like this line, doesn´t connect to anything. And if we´re going to get Maine´s economy on the fast track, we must connect with the rest of North America," Merrill said.

Dennis Bailey of Casinos No!, which blocked a proposed southern Maine casino in 2004, expressed skepticism about Merrill’s idea for train-based gambling and said it would likely draw opposition from his group’s members.

‘‘This is just another example of how once you let one of these things in, all kinds of ideas are going to follow — put one on a train, put one on a plane, it never ends,’’ he said.

Asked if she had been aware of an upcoming Merrill announcement on passenger rail service when she put out a release about Baldacci´s initiative Monday, Baldacci spokeswoman Crystal Canney said, "I was not aware it was today."