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Track work accounts for about $50 million of the capital budget. Work will include replacing rail and ties, doing bridge repairs and straightening some curves.
The railroad laid nearly 50 miles of new track last year. The organization plans to replace 400 to 500 miles of track over the next five to seven years.
“The tracks were last updated just after World War II, and while they're still in pretty good shape, it's time for them to be completely updated,” said spokesman Tim Thompson.
Much of the realignment work is between Anchorage and Wasilla. The railroad is trying to reduce the run time between the two cities, with an eye toward the possibility of a long-talked-about commuter rail service.
About $17 million of the budget will go toward the railroad's Ship Creek projects. Thompson said it looks as if this will be the year the railroad really moves on the first building phases of the sizable Ship Creek project.
The organization had planned to start laying new track last spring, but redesigned some of its plans after area business owners raised concerns that the railroad may hinder access to their operations.
The $100 million-plus project includes completely revamping the Ship Creek area around the current depot. Work would include an intermodal transportation center, sky bridges, parking, parks and easy access to the rest of downtown, located up a steep hill from the depot.
The Alaska Railroad has partnered with the U.S. Forest Service to develop a whistle stop service that will provide the adventurous access to some of the more notable areas in the Chugach National Forest south of Anchorage.
During the summer season, the train will stop at six locations between Portage and Moose Pass, giving residents and tourists a ride to trails that lead to such popular areas as Spencer, Bartlett Glacier and Grandview. The facility at Spencer should be operational by July, Thompson said.
All the sites will include boarding platforms, shelters, toilets and signage. Other possible features include picnic and camping facilities, wildlife viewing areas and expanded trails.
The entire project will cost an estimated $14 million. The Forest Service has awarded a $4.7 million grant to buy a train, and the Chugach National Forest received grants totaling $1.6 million for design and construction work. Those involved will continue to seek additional funding to complete the project.
Next year, passengers on the whistle stop will ride on a double-decker self-propelled train that will hold more than 140 people. The train, referred to as a Diesel Multiple Unit, or DMU, is expected to arrive in 2008. It resembles a sleek subway train, in that the engine and seating are in one unit.
During the winter months, the railroad plans to use the DMU train to give Alaskans a taste of commuter rail service. The railroad will introduce passenger service in Anchorage from Downtown to the airport to the Dimond Center mall. The service may eventually run from Girdwood to Wasilla.
Much of the Alaska Railroad's work over the past few years has been with a look toward a future commuter rail service.
But the railroad contends that a regional transit authority must be formed to oversee such an endeavor. “We'll do the rail and cars, but we want someone to coordinate what happens after the train ride is over,” Thompson said.
Other areas of spending include $10.5 million budgeted for equipment, which includes new passenger cars, locomotives and signal equipment.
It will spend $5.5 million on facilities. A portion of that will build a section house, used as rest areas for crews. The railroad plans to build these facilities in five locations over the next few years. The first was built last year in Cantwell, with new section houses planned for Hurricane, Nenana, Portage, Talkeetna and Wasilla. Each cost between $750,000 and $1 million.
The railroad ran into some roadblocks for planned work in Fairbanks, so the organization has halted work to re-evaluate its routes and take more public comment.
The corporation had already begun some track work on Fort Wainwright, and that will continue, but plans developed five years ago to straighten and reroute track in Fairbanks and the North Pole were criticized.
The railroad corporation is also working with Whittier officials to develop a master plan to determine future work there.
Melissa Campbell can be reached at melissa.campbell@alaskajournal.com.
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