On Sept. 25, President Donald Trump tweeted that he will soon issue a permit for building a 1,600-mile rail line that will connect the ports of Alaska, in Sewart in Alaska’s Cook Inlet, to Alberta, Canada. The permit will give the necessary authorization for the expansion of the existing Alaska railway network (the Alaska Railroad Corporation), and for then crossing the border into Canada.
Under the name of the Alaska to Alberta Railway (A2A), the firm is an investor-owned entity, run by a group of experienced people with backgrounds in finance, infrastructure funding, and infrastructure management. The project will be privately owned and funded.
The proposed route would allow for the port of Sewart to become a major international shipping hub, as oil from Alberta, grain, fertilizer, and other products from Canada would have a fast and efficient route for shipments to Asia and other destinations. Passengers, too, would then have a much more comfortable land route for travel to Alaska from both Canada and the lower 48 U.S. states.
