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Western Railroad Discussion > A2A Rail, Alaska to Alberta Moving ForwardDate: 07/01/19 04:08 A2A Rail, Alaska to Alberta Moving Forward Author: donstrack The proposed 1,500-mile Alaska to Alberta Railroad is moving forward. The Alaska RR Board of Directors has approved the project and signed the Master Agreement.
The project would connect the Alaska RR at Delta Junction, 95 miles southeast of Fairbanks, with Fort McMurray in Alberta, connecting with Canadian National's terminal near the Fort McMurray International Airport, about 10 miles southeast of Fort McMurray. A2A Rail says thay have been moving forward with the project over the past year, having assembled a team of 40 people and spent US$60 million on the engineering, route planning, environmental studies and regulatory applications. Since the rail line crosses an international border, approval is needed from the two nations' state departments. Here is their official web page. http://www.a2arail.com/ Here is an article in Railway Track & Structures. https://www.rtands.com/passenger/arrc-a2a-agree-on-massive-1500-mile-project-to-connect-to-lower-48 Here is an article in International Railway Journal. https://www.railjournal.com/regions/north-america/alaska-railroad-backs-plan-for-link-to-north-american-rail-network Don Strack Date: 07/01/19 06:03 Re: A2A Rail, Alaska to Alberta Moving Forward Author: Nomad Anyone want to make an educated guess on how the cost and speed of getting a freight car from the lower 48 to Alaska would compare between the existing ferry and this new rail line?
Date: 07/01/19 07:13 Re: A2A Rail, Alaska to Alberta Moving Forward Author: shortlineboss Isn't the main objective to move Alberta oil to tidewater for export?
Mike Root Madras, OR Date: 07/01/19 07:25 Re: A2A Rail, Alaska to Alberta Moving Forward Author: czuleget I believe they are trying to open up more territory for Canada not so much Alaska. True it would be faster for ARR to ship the ferry way in my view as well. But not so much for Canadian goods.
Passenger travel It sure would be out of this world. Question is how far out is the start date for construction? Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/01/19 21:29 by czuleget. Date: 07/01/19 08:49 Re: A2A Rail, Alaska to Alberta Moving Forward Author: TCnR Getting to be a popular topic.
Here's the map, notice that it's not the same old route, curious how close it gets to the old BCR location of Ft Nelson: Date: 07/01/19 15:27 Re: A2A Rail, Alaska to Alberta Moving Forward Author: SantaFeRuss A positive move!! A previous post about this recently is chock full of nay sayers. Pessimistic people. I say Full Steam Ahead!!
SantaFeRuss Date: 07/01/19 21:13 Re: A2A Rail, Alaska to Alberta Moving Forward Author: ATSFSuperChief A positive input for this also. Having ridden out many storms in the approach to Alaska by sea on a VLCC (Very Large Crude Carrier) I know that the towed barges experience much worst conditions than the VLCC did and it was sleeping in your recliner as impossible to remain in bed or bunk. Meals were soup in a coffee cup and cold sandwiches as impossible to prepare full meals in galley while ship trying to jump out of the water.
Don Allender-- Date: 07/01/19 21:51 Re: A2A Rail, Alaska to Alberta Moving Forward Author: trainjunkie SantaFeRuss Wrote:
------------------------------------------------------- > I say Full Steam Ahead!! With whose money? Date: 07/01/19 22:00 Re: A2A Rail, Alaska to Alberta Moving Forward Author: trainjunkie ATSFSuperChief Wrote:
------------------------------------------------------- > A positive input for this also. Having ridden out > many storms in the approach to Alaska by sea on a > VLCC (Very Large Crude Carrier) I know that the > towed barges experience much worst conditions than > the VLCC did and it was sleeping in your recliner > as impossible to remain in bed or bunk. Meals were > soup in a coffee cup and cold sandwiches as > impossible to prepare full meals in galley while > ship trying to jump out of the water. That's nice but unless you have compared this to keeping a train moving in the dead of winter in the far north through experience, it's anecdotal. This line would be VERY expensive to build, VERY expensive to keep open and operate in the winter, and VERY expensive to maintain. I can tell you right now that the money isn't going to come from the Alaska Railroad. They couldn't even turn a wheel if it wasn't for FTA funds, State funds, and other grants. It makes sense for the State to support it as it exists, there are tangible, back-end benefits (such as the ability to delay improving the Parks Highway to accommodate more trucks). That is why the State purchased the railroad from the Feds to begin with. But this incredibly long connection to Canadian rails has little direct benefit to the Alaska Railroad. They can't even lay rails across the Tanana River bridge, let alone get rails to the Canadian border. Date: 07/02/19 14:11 Re: A2A Rail, Alaska to Alberta Moving Forward Author: highgreengraphics Chinese investors? No talk of trade tariffs in Canada that I have heard of... === === = === JLH
Date: 07/02/19 21:53 Re: A2A Rail, Alaska to Alberta Moving Forward Author: SantaFeRuss trainjunkie Wrote:
------------------------------------------------------- > SantaFeRuss Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > I say Full Steam Ahead!! > > With whose money? They will have Investers from the private sector and. possibly the United States and Canadian govrnments. If these things dont work they will use your money. He he he! SantaFeRuss Date: 07/03/19 07:51 Re: A2A Rail, Alaska to Alberta Moving Forward Author: tomstp I think you just hit the nail on the head.
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