Support to study Alberta to Alaska rail line

First Nations and Alaskan Tribes have expressed support to explore the feasibility for a new “purpose built” railroad linking Alaska, Yukon, northern British Columbia and northern Alberta to the rest of North America. Proposed by G Seven Generations Ltd., the railroad would provide access to Pacific tidewater, enabling the import and export of commodities, including oil sands products. The proposed 1,500-mile railroad would run northwest from Fort McMurray and connect with the Alyeska Pipeline at Delta Junction, about 80 miles south of Fairbanks, Alaska. The rail link would use an existing marine terminal in Valdez, Alaska. The Trans-Alaska Pipeline System currently carries oil from the North Slope to the Valdez marine super tanker terminal. G7G officials have conducted outreach programs with First Nations and tribal leadership and now are hosting community meetings. The firm has offered the First Nations and tribal groups a 50 percent stake in the railroad. “Valdez has seen oil tanker traffic since the 1970s; this proposal would simply mean replacing the declining supply of Alaska crude with a new supply of Alberta crude. We believe this approach has a greater chance of obtaining social license from local communities than other competing scenarios,” said Chief Ronald Kreutzer of Fort McMurray First Nation.