Railroad officials plan to have the Fairbanks depot project plans ready to bid on by May, with a groundbreaking this summer and tentative completion by fall of 2004.

"The whole project is about $22 million, of which only about $5 million is for the depot itself. So the rest of the expense is really in the tracks and the switch and the improvement that we're making to the yard in order to make our operation more efficient," said Johne Binkley, railroad board chairman.

That work includes creating a looping track that allows trains to turn around, and a new inspection pit enabling workers to inspect the undercarriage of the train without sending it into a shop.

Also in the works is a roughly $6 million effort to renovate the railroad's Denali depot, located about 10 miles south of Healy.

The project includes improving the loading and unloading facilities and expanding the parking and "siding" areas, Binkley said.

Siding is a length of rail that runs connected and parallel to the main line and allows one train to pass another.

The National Park Service is planning a new Visitors Service Center north of the depot.

The Denali project, handled by Fairbanks contractor Great Northwest Inc., is expected to be finished by fall, said Pat Flynn, Alaska Railroad public affairs officer.