Alaska Railroad - Corporation - Freight Cars

Project Purpose

The project funds the replacement of the Alaska Railroad Corporation’s (ARRC) rolling stock assets inventory scheduled to be retired. The series of assets falls into two primary freight car categories, flat and hopper cars. These assets are nearing the end of their service life and will need to be replaced in order to support general operations and services provided by the corporation. The requested funding would replace approximately 45 flat cars and 9 hopper cars; with the specific car type breakout being 19 Chain Equipped Flat Cars, 26 TOFC (Trailer on Flat Cars) and 9 Gravel Hoppers.

Requested project scope would support the fabrication and/or procurement of rolling stock assets which directly supports the Alaska Railroad’s, Local Miscellaneous, Trailer on Flat Car (TOFC), Container on Flat Car (COFC), Gravel, Local Coal and Gravel Business Lines. These business lines support the movement and delivery of general consumer goods, machinery, military equipment, gravel, coal, construction and the oil field materials. By maintaining an adequate fleet of general- purpose flat cars and hopper cars, ARRC remains flexible in our capabilities to move freight of all kinds, shapes, sizes to support the Alaskan Economy. These funds will tremendously ease financial burden of ARRC’s multiyear investment plan support our asset management needs.

Justification

Project Importance and Benefits

The Alaska Railroad is a Class II railroad that provides freight and passenger transportation services in Alaska. ARRC’s main line stretches 470 miles from Seward to Fairbanks, connecting communities in Southcentral and Interior Alaska, especially Anchorage and Fairbanks, the state’s largest traffic- and revenue-generating communities. The line extends to the nation’s rail system via intermodal ports in Seward, Whittier, and Anchorage. The railroad is a primary transportation corridor for inbound freight traveling to Fairbanks and Interior Alaska communities that depend on Fairbanks-based businesses for commercial, household, and other consumer goods, as well as outbound products shipped from local businesses to national and global markets. The railroad also serves several U.S. military installations, including Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Clear Space Force Station, Fort Wainwright, and Eielson Air Force Base.

Flat cars are the back bone of ARRC freight car fleet and are heavily utilized for pipe, Alaska Marine Lines (AML), military equipment, local moves, and a variety of other special movements along the system. The acquisition is part of ARRC multiyear freight car replacement plan which supports our asset management efforts. The Alaska Railroad provides Alaska businesses the most cost-efficient and environmentally sustainable way to move heavy freight and bulk commodities. The freight car assets supports North Slope development, Alaska’s energy sector, military bases, Port of Alaska, ADOT&PF and construction industry. These assets are approaching the end of their service life and need to be replenished. Inadequate funding of ARRC’s multiyear asset investment plan will directly affect the support of the aforementioned business lines as operations will be made less efficient. A diminished freight car inventory will increase operating costs significantly and increase risk by operating additional train starts. Moreover, it will result in increased cost to the consumer.

The Chain Equipped Flat Cars shoulder a heavy burden in supporting the movement of equipment and heavy haul moves for both revenue and non-revenue equipment and heavy-haul moves. This car type averages over 11,500 miles per year supporting local business. Trailer on Flat Car also referred to as TOFC are primarily used in ARRC service between Anchorage and Fairbanks. These cars can move a large variety of trailer types. Asset utilization and availability is heavily contingent on having a healthy fleet. Some of our requested flat cars service both the Trailer on Flat Car (TOFC) and Container on Flat Car (COFC) business lines. In 2024, ARRC moved approximately 12,400 containers and averages over 13,000 annually over the last four years.

ARRC Chain Equipped Flat Car ARRC Trailer on Flat Car (TOFC)

The Gravel Hoppers are used in our gravel service, moving aggregate from Mat-Su to Anchorage between April and October, annually ARRC has nine of these cars retiring in 2026 with the remaining 316 cars retiring in the 2032 timeframe. This car type averages over 9000 miles per year. In 2024, the gravel business lines supported the movement of approximate 1,480,000 tons of gravel, gravel essential to the construction industry for State of Alaska. In the absence of these assets, the burden would fall to our customers to develop a trucking plan to meet their needs. Given then demand in State for trucking services, it’s likely that our customers would not find the resources to meet those needs.