Posted on 03/31/2019 3:05:31 PM PDT by KC_Lion
Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy is asking President Donald Trump to grant a presidential permit to extend the Alaska Railroad into Canada, supporting a Canadian company seeking to blaze a new path for Asian-bound products.
Linking the Alaska and North American rail systems, an idea more than a century old, would cut at least two days travel time for Canadian and Lower 48 cargo headed to the Far East because of shorter sea routes, supporters say.
“To me it was a no-brainer,” said Sean McCoshen, chief executive of Alberta to Alaska Railway Development Corp., speaking to the Senate Transportation Committee late last month.
“A2A will make Alaska’s ports the closest to Asia in North America,” Mead Treadwell, a former Alaska lieutenant governor and consultant to the Canadian company, told a reporter on Thursday.
....
Railcars would move overland to Cook Inlet, carrying passengers and freight. Cargo would include bitumen, the semi-solid, tar-like form of crude oil, potash used in fertilizer, and ore from mines.
Asian imports could be hauled into Canada and the Lower 48.
Estimates show the project would generate at least $4 billion in annual revenues, the company says.
The state would benefit by renting right-of-way to the company, and through tariffs paid for railcars traveling through Alaska, Treadwell said.
(Excerpt) Read more at adn.com ...
When Murkowski votes WITH Trump, we’ll think about it.
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Tell the governor he will get the permit when the nasty ho resigns.
Only if the State recalls Senator Murkowski and appoints a true Conservative in her place.
Oh man. Can you imagine a RR trip to Alaska from the lower 48? Would I love that. :)
Those Canadian ports ship mainly commodities — which are more cost-sensitive, than time-sensitive. I doubt they have much to fear from this.
Reading the History at your wiki link...it’s been tried a number of times. Always expensive and a failure. And expensive.
Maybe they want to get Alberta oil to the Alaskan terminals.
A reliable, predictable and high volume land route between Alaska and the lower US will make Alaska truly part of the union.
Fully integrated.
The state and all of British Columbia and Yukon might even develop more.
Yeah, the weather and terrain are substantial issues. Just keeping a gravel road open 1/2 the year is an enormous challenge.
But the payback is definitely there.
It’s a Canadian trick.
They’re up to something.
So pretty.
Looking at the presentation you linked, it seems they would like to ship a million barrels per day out of the Port of Valdez from Alberta. Maybe using the pipeline from Delta Junction.
And they would run fiber optic cable along the route, to also supply massive Internet bandwidth.
Winter weather and seismic threats will need special attention, but they may have it routed far enough from fault lines to reduce the earthquake risk.
AOC will love it and propose it continue on to Hawaii.
No, those routes will be sailboats.
A big surprise why it wasn’t done already.
I would be skeptical. Trade with China usually ends up being an import only proposition. It’s so bad their steel containers have been piling up by the thousands all over the US for years. Their cargo ships have usually been returning to China empty. But recently, they have been returning with empty containers now in demand due to the decline in steel production.
Screw southern BC, let’s get the plant in Kitimat built and haul our gas there, preferably in pipe.
Roger that!
I assume that is an "All in capital cost range $14 Billion - $20 billion". That is a big boner to put in an advertising package.
I lived in Alaska from 1976-2002 and could never understand why this had never been done. It’s time.
I grew up in Michigan and took the Trans-Continental RR across Canada several times (both directions of course). Going from Calgary to Anchorage would be one of the most beautiful trips on Earth.
Going Watson Lake to either Atline or Teslin or Whitehorse to Skagway or Haines would get the freight into the Pacific quicker than going to Fairbanks then Anchorage/Port McKenzie.
The Valdez route is faster too.
I was not suggesting that the freight go to Anchorage, just that it would be a scenic trip. Hell, they would ALL be scenic trips. I’m pretty familiar with the topography and navigation challenges in Valdez. There is a lot of infrastructure already there with the oil terminal. That is the deep side of the bay which would make a lot of sense compared to the town side. Just don’t ever, EVER let Joe Hazelwood drive one of the cargo ships out of port (LOL!).
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