Alaska Railroad signs initial deal for link to Canada and the rest of the country

JUNEAU — The Alaska Railroad Corp. board of directors has approved an agreement with a firm seeking to link Alaska and Canada by rail. The board voted unanimously Thursday morning to approve the deal, which does not require the state-owned railroad corporation to fund the project.

Construction is estimated to cost $13 billion, according to a presentation given to the Alaska Legislature earlier this year, and is years away. Thursday’s arrangement deals with initial permitting, land acquisition and preliminary planning.

Under the agreement, the Alaska-to-Alberta Railroad Development Corp. —known as A2A Rail — receives an “exclusive right” to operate a cross-border railroad and the ability to use Alaska Railroad’s existing network as it seeks to build a railroad line between Alaska and Fort McMurray, Alberta. The agreement calls for the Alaska Railroad and A2A rail to obtain a right-of-way across state land between the Canadian border and the end of the railroad’s existing track. The two groups will draft a cost-sharing agreement.

“A rail connection between Alaska and Canada and the rest of the United States is a project that has been talked and dreamed about for close to a century,” said Alaska Railroad President and CEO Bill O’Leary in a prepared statement. “Completing that connection has amazing potential for Alaska and this agreement between the Alaska Railroad and A2A Rail is an important first step to get the project underway.”

Read more: https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/2019/06/28/alaska-railroad-signs-initial-deal-for-link-to-canada-and-the-rest-of-the-country/
(Anchorage Daily News)