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 @
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 @
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] @
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 @
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(?).
