Why is there no freight rail that directly links Alaska to the lower 48 states?
Economics - cost too much to build and maintain for too little continuing revenue.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
There is also freight service by ferry from Prince Rupert, British Columbia.
I thought of answering that there is no track to Alaska because of the topography, but Balt gave a little more detail--the cost to build a usable track would far outweigh the revenue realized in a reasonable length of time.
Johnny
Unfortunately, it is not viable especially to the railroad or government, especially when you could have stuff delivered by boat. But it could help both the railroad and boating industry if they used intermodal containers to deliver goods to and from seattle and alaska.
If there is no track, how can there be a (freight) train?
A lot of containers are carried by contsiner ships.
The Alaska (or ALCAN) Highway is about 1,600 miles in length. That would be quite a railroad...
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
They keep talking about linking to Alaska by rail via Canada and there is a study on the Internet from 2007 ish I think. Projects the costs at over $10 Billion. The benefits would be a lower cost of living for Alaska residents but as others have said above in order for the railroad to pay for itself you would need to develop Yukon and Alaska more with minerals, Oil, etc. Not going to happen anytime soon as Congress and most of the country views Alaska as a "hands off" National Park vs a growing state that wants to develop more. If you could change that attitude in the lower 48, then you might have a reason to build.
In the past we have had similar conversations on this Forum; referencing the connecting the ARRC with the rail network in Canada, and then the Continental US.
As someone else mentioned, a very expensive project. here is a map link for some of the potential routings; See Link @ http://economics.gov.yk.ca/RailStudy/Map_Page_ACRL.pdf
This link is to a section of the ARRC's website and can be accessed at the header labeled " Capital Projects". If you fopllow that header down the page to the fery last items on the list. You will find these headings : See @ http://www.alaskarailroad.com/corporate/CapitalProjects/Studies/tabid/490/Default.aspx
follow down to:
Alaska Canada Rail Link Phase 1 Feasibility Study - For information purposes only, not an official Alaska Railroad project.
[At that point you can access four PDF files referencing the Phase 1 Feasibility Study.]
This study contains the following:
"...On July 1, 2005, the governments of Alaska and Yukon launched an initiative to determine the feasibility of a rail link connecting Alaska and Yukon with the North American railroad system.
Phase 1, jointly chaired by Yukon and Alaska, was governed by an international Advisory Committee comprised of government and industry leaders and this committee oversaw a multi-lateral Management Working Group that assisted in the coordination of the Study.."
[ this information from this site] @ http://economics.gov.yk.ca/rail.htm
It is an interesting situation and could be considered " a missing link" in the Rail network of the North Amertican continent(?). The CNR has an existing rail link to Fort Nelson, B.C. Not sure how often, or if it still gets any level of service, currently ?
[I believe that, at one time, the line to Deese Lake,B.C. had some rail service, and that it was surveyed and graded a number of years back, but was never completed. I also recall reading somewhere that some of the lower end of this line used a home built rail vehicle to serve the citizens who lived alon that line(?)]
See @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BC_Rail
FTL:[snipped]"...In 1958, British Columbia Premier W.A.C. Bennett boasted that he would extend the railway to the Yukon and Alaska, and further extension of the railway was undertaken in the 1960s. A 23-mile (37 km) spur was constructed to Mackenzie. A third line was extended west from the mainline (somewhat north of Prince George) to Fort St. James. It was completed on August 1, 1968. The largest construction undertaken in the 1960s was to extend the mainline from Fort St. John 250 miles (400 km) north to Fort Nelson, less than 100 miles (160 km) away from the Yukon. The Fort Nelson Subdivision was opened by Premier Bennett on September 10, 1971. Unfortunately, the opening of the line was overshadowed by the inaugural train derailing south of Williams Lake, south of Prince George..."[snip]
[The Oil refinery at North Pole, Ak, was taken off- line in 2014 by the owner, Flint Hills Resources. Problems that started from a previous ownership corporation, and also the State of Ak which at one time was involved in it. The facility is now a distribution terminal connected to the Port of Anchorage by a pipeline, utilizes rail for product distribution and according to thier website handles about 12,000 rail cars a year.]
The ARRC is a company owned by the State of Alaska and operates as a normal business entity (employees are not considered State employees(?).
samfp1943 The CNR has an existing rail link to Fort Nelson, B.C. Not sure how often, or if it still gets any level of service, currently ? [I believe that, at one time, the line to Deese Lake,B.C. had some rail service, and that it was surveyed and graded a number of years back, but was never completed. I also recall reading somewhere that some of the lower end of this line used a home built rail vehicle to serve the citizens who lived alon that line(?)]
Hi All
I just checked. CN serves Ft Nelson with two trains per week (down from 3) from Ft St John although the service is, according to a report from the Ft Nelson Chamber of Commerce, less than stellar. No cars are no longer yarded in Ft Nelson by local switch crews. They no longer exist, the result being that businesses using rail service have faced problems accessing full cars. They have to wait until the train from FSJ arrives. The crew then performs necesasry switching, all of this complicated by their HOS requirments etc according to the report. The result is local businesses relying on rail are now shifting to truck. This is strange because shale gas dev't in the Horn River Basin has been increasing considerably over the past 6-10 years....
Dease Lake sub never ran much north of Ft St James IIRC. You can still see the roadbed north of Iskut on the way to Dease Lake from the Dease Hwy (#37) Ther was a local 'railcar' operation of sorts north of James but I'm not sure if it still runs. IIRC it was a pretty small operation an more likely only for local residents on an occasional basis.
That said, the area is changing. Hydro now has a high line north to Bob Quinn to seervice some of the mining development beginning in the NW of BC. Things may change re rail development in the area; however, my thoughts are that it will take considerable mining development to justify costs. Also Stewart BC (not that far distant)still has a shore (ore too IIRC) loading facililty (originally for Cassiar Asbestos Corp) that could be upgraded and used, being serviced by road haulage.
Interesting concept this AK railway but a long shot for now IMO....
Charlie
Chilliwack, BC
ARR is in the process of extending their rail SE to Delta Junction, about 90 miles SE of Fairbanks.
There were some proposals for rails to Yukon mining areas, but they would run to the coast to facilitate shipment, especially to China. They would tend to run at right angles to an Alaska link.
Get Russia to invest. This is stupid you cant poke a bear and not expect it to be pissed off. Russia should replace China as are best freind and trading partner I just dont trust those guys. Mao talked about the shining path and we are just playing right in his hands.
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