Tag Archives: alaska railroad

New Alaska Railroad reality show: The art of myth?

We’ve all experienced the phenomena of life imitating art. Your coworker who’s reading Hemingway ends his memo with the line, “Isn’t it pretty to think so.” The Sarah Palin you know begins to act like the Sarah Palin depicted in the media.

Alaskans probably experience this more than most, with a twist because increasingly, Alaskans themselves are both the life and the art. That fisherman, the trooper, the pilot, are heroes on that reality t.v. show, and probably much to their families’ chagrin, they begin to act the part.

Now there’s yet another reality t.v. show to join the dozens of others shot in Alaska. This one focuses on the Alaska Railroad and it will begin to air on the Discovery Channel on Nov. 16. Here’s how the show is described by one of the producers:

The railroad is critical to Alaska’s infrastructure, carrying vital resources around the state. The workers who risk their lives to make sure the trains can run, and the off grid passengers who depend on its existence are the stories we want to tell, and Destination America offers the perfect platform to do so.

Not to take anything away from the railroad workers, but off grid passengers depend on its existence? You mean, the off grid passengers who are dropped off and picked up on the rail belt, within site of a major road?

And here most of us thought that mostly what the railroad did was haul coal from Healy to Seward to send to Korea, and cart tourists around.

How many Alaskans actually ride the train? The railroad isn’t sure, but it does know that about 60 percent of the 400,000 people who ride the train come from cruise ships.

In the winter, which according to the railroad is the end of September until May, the railroad only carries passengers on the weekends from Anchorage to Fairbanks and back with stops along the way. One train, which runs from October to May, runs once a month between Anchorage and Hurricane.

Recently, the railroad requested $40 million from Gov. Sean Parnell, who will release his budget in December. The money is for federally mandated safety upgrades. Last year, at the request of Parnell, the railroad received a $19.1 appropriation.

The $40 million is for both fiscal year 2015 and 2016.

“At stake is the continuation of Alaska Railroad passenger service,” railroad spokesman Tim Sullivan recently told me.

The railroad’s assets total about $989 million and include about 500 miles of railroad line and about 36,000 acres of land, about half of which are available for lease, and which accounted for roughly $10 million of the railroad’s revenue in 2012.

The Legislature has no say over the railroad’s budget.

It’s unclear how much or if any tax credits — part of the film tax credits program — have gone into the production of the show. Getting information about who got the credits and how much was spent on an individual film was always difficult. In July, 2013, the program was moved from the Alaska Department of Commerce to the Department of Revenue. And now, what was once a semi-transparent program is by statute, opaque.

What is clear, however, is that the railroad cooperated with the production, which is all well and fine. So did the Alaska State Troopers when that show was being shot.

I suspect that the troopers’ show has made troopers better at their jobs. Perhaps the show featuring a romanticized version of how very much the railroad means to the Alaska passenger that it serves, will goad the railroad on to imitate art.

Contact Amanda Coyne at amandamcoyne@yahoo.com

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New Alaska Railroad president takes over in troubled times

railroadThe new president of the Alaska Railroad Corp. is Bill O’Leary, who has been an executive with the railroad since 2001, most recently as chief operating officer. As I wrote last week, the railroad received around 200 applications for the position. It’s unclear how many were interviewed.

O’Leary is from Fairbanks and has an accounting degree from the University of Alaska Fairbanks. He’s well liked and respected among the organization. However, his political mettle has yet to be tested and he’ll need some of that going into the next legislative session.

The railroad has seen better days. It’s had a $45 million drop in revenues in the past two years and is requesting that Gov. Sean Parnell include $40 million in his fiscal year 2015 budget submission for safety improvements to passenger service. The railroad is making the request to comply with federally mandated passenger safety upgrades. All told, the railroad will need an additional $69.7 million from 2015 to 2018 to complete the project.

“At stake is the continuation of Alaska Railroad passenger service,” railroad spokesman Tim Sullivan said.

The railroad received $19.1 from the legislature last year, an appropriation that was requested by Parnell in the final hours of the legislative session without time for committee review or public comment.

Roughly 400,000 people a year ride the railroad. About 60 percent of those passengers come to Alaska via cruise ships. It’s unclear how many Alaskans take the train. The direct financial impact to Alaska if the passenger service is disrupted is also unclear. The railroad is working on an impact study, Sullivan said.

A disruption would undoubtedly impact businesses and communities that rely on tourism.

The railroad and all its assets were transferred from federal to state hands in 1985 and were established as a state-owned corporation. Those assets now total about $989 million and include about 500 miles of railroad line and about 36,000 acres of land, about half of which are available for lease, and which accounted for roughly $10 million of the railroad’s revenue in 2012.

It does not pay state or corporate income taxes, nor any property taxes.

Its total revenue in 2012 was $190.4 million, including about $40 million of federal government grants.

According to the railroad’s annual report, operating revenues exceeded operating expenses by $3.8 million.

Unlike the Alaska Housing Finance Corp., another state corporation, the Legislature has no say over the railroad’s budget, and it doesn’t pay annual dividends to the state. The intent was for the corporation to use any profits to be self-sustaining. However since 1996, it has relied on federal grants to make ends meet, and state appropriations in the last few years for capital projects.

In the past, there have been discussions about giving the Legislature more control over the railroad’s budget through the Executive Budget Act, which the railroad has always strenuously opposed on grounds that they weren’t asking for or needed state appropriations

Contact Amanda Coyne at amandamcoyne@yahoo.com

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Alaska Railroad asking state for $40 million for safety upgrades

railroadThe Alaska Railroad Corp. is requesting that Gov. Sean Parnell include $40 million in his fiscal year 2015 budget submission for safety improvements to passenger service. The railroad is making the request to comply with federally mandated passenger safety upgrades. According to the railroad’s budget request, more than $150 million total will be required to complete the federal mandate by 2018.

The federal mandate “is too big a lift for our current financial situation to support,” railroad spokesman Tim Sullivan said.

Parnell will present his budget later this year.

The mandates were established by Congress in 2008 in response to train accidents. They are supposed to make rail service safer.

The railroad has already spent $63.8 million on the program, it says. That number includes $19.1 it received from the legislature last year, an appropriation that was requested by Parnell in the final hours of the legislative session without time for committee review or public comment. All told, the railroad will need an additional $69.7 million from 2015 to 2018 to complete the project.

The $40 million is for both fiscal year 2015 and 2016.

“At stake is the continuation of Alaska Railroad passenger service,” Sullivan said.

Roughly 400,000 people a year ride the railroad. About 60 percent of those passengers come to Alaska via cruise ships. It’s unclear how many Alaskans take the train. The direct financial impact to Alaska if the passenger service is disrupted is also unclear. The railroad is working on an impact study, Sullivan said.

A disruption would undoubtedly impact businesses and communities that rely on tourism.

The railroad and all its assets were transferred from federal to state hands in 1985 and was established as a state-owned corporation. Those assets now total about $989 million and include about 500 miles of railroad line and about 36,000 acres of land, about half of which are available for lease, and which accounted for roughly $10 million of the railroad’s revenue in 2012.

It does not pay state or corporate income taxes, nor any property taxes.

Its total revenue in 2012 was $190.4 million, including about $40 million of federal government grants.

According to the railroad’s annual report, operating revenues exceeded operating expenses by $3.8 million.

Unlike the Alaska Housing Finance Corp., another state corporation, the Legislature has no say over the railroad’s budget, and it doesn’t pay annual dividends to the state. The intent was for the corporation to use any profits to be self-sustaining. However since 1996, it has relied on federal grants to make ends meet, and state appropriations in the last few years for capital projects.

In the past, there have been discussions about giving the Legislature more control over the railroad’s budget through the Executive Budget Act, which the railroad has always strenuously opposed on grounds that they weren’t asking for or needed state appropriations.

Contact Amanda Coyne amandamcoyne@yahoo.com

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