Freight Services The Alaska Railroad (ARRC) provides seam- ARM barge move from Whittier to Anchorage or less freight operation between shipping points in Fairbanks. Barges also move railcar shipments the Lower 48 to many destinations in Alaska. Port to/from Alaska via Prince Rupert, interchanging facilities in Seattle, Whittier, Seward and Anchor- with Canadian National Railway (CN). The CN age provide crucial links between marine and land barge was discontinued in early spring 2021. transportation modes. Rail yards in Seward, Whit- tier, Anchorage and Fairbanks offer centralized • Trailers/Containers on Flat Cars — TOFC/ distribution hubs for other transportation modes. COFC moves north and south between Seward, Whittier, Anchorage and Fairbanks. Freight Revenue & Expense • Coal — Coal from Usibelli Coal Mine in Healy Freight is the Alaska Railroad’s bread-and- moves to the Fairbanks area for local markets. butter, typically generating more than half of operating revenues (excluding capital grants). In • Gravel — Seasonally (April – October) aggregate 2019, a more typical year, the railroad hauled 3.49 products move from the Matanuska-Susitna million tons of freight, generating 56% of operating Valley to Anchorage. revenues. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic dev- • Miscellaneous/In-state Local — Other freight astated ARRC’s passenger business and lowered includes specialty movements of very large or freight demand. As a result, ARRC hauled 2.8 mil- lion tons of freight, generating three-fourths (76%) oddly-shaped equipment and materials, as well of operating revenues. as in-state shipments of cement, scrap metal, Major lines of freight business include: military equipment and pipe. • Petroleum — Most petroleum products have While freight-hauling is a major revenue source, it also involves capital- and maintenance- moved from Anchorage to a fuel distribution intensive expense. ARRC continues to seek ways center in North Pole. A new fuel distribution to improve efficiency through time savings, fuel system came online in early 2020, with products conservation, less wear-and-tear. A prime example moving between Anchorage and Fairbanks. is the use of distributed power, in which locomotives • Barge / Interline Services — Alaska Rail Marine are placed at the front, middle and end of mile-long (ARM) moves rail shipments to/from Alaska trains, enabling them to travel over steeper inclines via Seattle, interchanging with railroads in the (such as the track through the mountain pass Lower 48. Containers and railcars arriving by between Portage and Seward) without splitting the train into sections.
May 21 2021 Mitigating Impacts Freight Equipment Railroads are ideal for safely and efficiently transport- The Alaska Railroad’s freight revenue service fleet in- ing heavy, bulky freight, ranging from natural resources cludes 737 railcars, with 687 owned by ARRC and 50 leased. such as petroleum, gravel and coal, to containerized cargo The railroad has developed a comprehensive fleet manage- and heavy equipment. If not for the railroad, many more ment program involving rehabilitation and replacement. The trucks would be needed to haul commodities over state and railroad’s revenue-service freight fleet includes: municipal roadways. • Flat Car — Moves trailers and containers, pipe, lumber, and The table below illustrates how the Alaska Railroad heavy equipment. Fleet: 349 cars mitigates the impact of moving natural resource products • Air Dump — Side-dumping railcars used primarily to trans- by keeping more than 154,972 dump trucks and fuel tank port ballast and other rock material for track maintenance. trucks off the road in 2020 alone. Also during 2020, the Fleet: 31 cars railroad moved 18,444 cargo-filled trailers and containers by railroad flatcar instead of by truck on the highway. • Open Top Hopper — Moves bulk solids, primarily coal and Hauling heavy, bulky commodities by rail also makes gravel, and unloads from the bottom. Fleet: 326 cars sense from a fuel conservation standpoint. According to • Covered Hopper — Moves dry bulk, including grain, fertil- the American Association of Railroads (AAR), a freight train izer and cement. Fleet: 30 cars moves a ton of freight an average of 484 miles on a single • Boxcar — Moves a variety of commodities, including lumber, gallon of fuel. paper and drilling mud. Fleet: 1 car According to a recent independent study produced for the Federal Railroad Administration, railroads on average ARRC also hauls cargo with cars owned/leased by customers, are four times more fuel-efficient than trucks. Thanks to who contract ARRC to perform operating maintenance only. locomotive and other technology improvements, railroad • Tank Car — Moves liquid bulk cargo including jet fuel, fuel efficiency is up 106 percent since 1980. gasoline, asphalt, vegetable oils, aircraft deicer, and various other chemicals. Fleet: 210 privately leased/owned.
Positive impact of trains moving natural resources
Natural Railcars Average Number of Trucks Truck Moves Transport Miles2 Vehicle Miles Resource Hauled Equivalent to One Railcar 1 Replaced 1 Eliminated 3 Petroleum, 22,942 Petroleum: 5 tank trucks/ 154,972 Petroleum: 356 17 million Gravel, and Tankers tanker railcar trucks not Gravel: 40 vehicle miles Domestic and Gravel: 8 dump trucks/hopper traveling on Domestic Coal: 111 not driven on Coal2 Hoppers Coal: 6 dump trucks/hopper highways highways
Assumptions (source Los Angeles Fire Department; Alaska Railroad): 1 The number of trucks replaced by a railcar includes movement of the loaded truck and movement of the empty truck to be reloaded. • GRAVEL: A road-legal 40-foot side-dump truck has a heaped capacity of 32 cubic yards = 25 tons gravel. Each hopper railcar holds about 100 tons of gravel — 100 divided by 25 tons / truck = 4 x both ways = 8 trucks / hopper railcar. • COAL: Typical Usibelli coal is about 1 cubic yard per ton, so each 40-foot side-dump truck could haul 32 tons. Each hopper railcar holds about 100 tons of coal — 100 divided by 32 tons / truck = 3 x both ways = 6 trucks / hopper railcar. • REFINED PETROLEUM: Large road-legal distribution tank trucks typically hold about 9,000 gallons. A rail tanker car typically holds 22,700 gallons — 22,700 divided by 9,000 / truck = 2.5 x both ways = 5 tanker trucks / tanker railcar. 2 Petroleum trains operate between Fairbanks and Anchorage, 356 miles one-way. Gravel trains operate between Mat-Su Valley and Anchorage, 40 miles one-way. Coal trains operate between Healy and Fairbanks, 111 miles one-way. 3 Refers to approximate vehicle miles traveled (VMT) eliminated from state highways, based on the number of equivalent trucks multiplied by miles the resource is moved.
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