ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The Alaska Railroad has approved purchase of a new $137 million cruise ship port in Seward, to be built by a local developer and funded through a combination of loans and bonds. The facility could be completed in time for the 2026 cruise season. The Anchorage Daily News reports the railroad’s board […]
JUNEAU, Alaska — A bill to fund two Alaska Railroad projects met with mixed results in the state Senate Finance Committee, the news site Must Read Alaska reports. The committee retained the original measure in House Bill 122, which authorizes up to $75 million in bonds for a new Seward dock and related facilities [see […]
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The Alaska Railroad is seeking to replace its passenger dock and terminal building in Seward, Alaska, with a $137 million project proposed by local developer the Seward Co. If funding is approved, the new facility could be opened by spring 2026. “This dock is a vital piece of Alaska’s transportation infrastructure, not […]
JUNEAU, Alaska — Little more than a week after criticizing the Alaska Railroad because it has “not built one single mile of track” in more than 40 years of state ownership, a state legislator has proposed giving the railroad a way to do just that. An amendment introduced by Rep. Kevin McCabe (R-Big Lake) would […]
JUNEAU, Alaska — A state legislator has introduced a bill calling for privatization of the Alaska Railroad — although even the bill’s sponsor says the purpose is as much about inspiring discussion as it is about potentially triggering a sale. HB 332, introduced by Rep. Jesse Sumner (R-Wasilla), calls for the state’s governor to request […]
U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward must have thought he was making the real estate deal of a lifetime — 600,000 square miles for a cost of less than two cents an acre. That is the price Seward negotiated with Edouard de Stoecki, Russian minister to the U.S., for the purchase of what would […]
WASHINGTON — The Federal Railroad Administration has selected 10 projects for grants under its Federal-State Partnership for Intercity Passenger Rail grant program, according to a list released today (Friday, Dec. 8) on the FRA website. The U.S. Department of Transportation announced the grants in a press release that linked those awards with the selection of […]
What’s it like to travel with Trains Magazine? Read Editor Carl Swanson’s day-by-day impressions of the 49th State. Information on all our upcoming tours is posted here. Alaska 2023 Day 1, Sunday 9/10 | Fairbanks Depending on where you live, getting to Alaska can take a while. In my case, it meant waking in time […]
Note: This article corrects an earlier version that contained an error in the description of the SD70’s HTC-R trucks. See Comments for more information. Alaska Railroad’s SD70MACs make up the backbone of the railroad’s freight operations and they also power all the ARR’s long-distance passenger trains — wait, isn’t the SD70MAC a freight locomotive? Although […]
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Telling employees it does not have a choice because of a federal executive order, the Alaska Railroad has announced a vaccine requirement for its employees and set a Dec. 8 deadline for workers to be fully vaccinated. The website Must Read Alaska has published a letter to railroad employees from CEO Bill O’Leary […]
