‘A busy summer’: Alaska Railroad wraps up its summer season and prepares for winter routes

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - The Alaska Railroad’s daily summer routes wrap up this weekend, with the last day of daily service set for Sunday.

Meghan Clemens with the Alaska Railroad said many travelers have stepped foot on the Alaska Railroad this summer.

“It’s been a busy summer for the Alaska Railroad. It hasn’t been record-breaking for ridership, but like many in the travel industry, we saw a big dip during the COVID years, a strong comeback and this summer has been a continued strong performance,” Clemens said.

Passengers describe the scenery

Ali Womack, visiting from Nashville, Tenn., with a group of 13 family members, described their trip from Anchorage to Seward on the Coastal Classic train.

“So far, it’s beautiful. I mean, as you can see, it’s absolutely stunning. It’s exactly what I thought it would be,” Womack said. “We’re really enjoying it. We just finished breakfast, and it was delicious. The views are amazing.”

Passengers were lined up at the Anchorage depot before the sunrise for this trip, and Womack said everyone there has their own story.

“It was interesting even being in line talking to people because we’re all here for different reasons. Some are just doing the train for the day. Some are going on maybe a different cruise, maybe crossing over to another country, and then some are like us boarding a ship in Seward,” Womack said.

Crews prepare for winter service

Clemens said Alaska’s conditions create challenges for the crews who maintain the train.

“Alaska, we all know it’s a pretty wild place out there, and so every summer there’s some kind of challenge, whether that’s a landslide, whether that’s a river flood. But our maintenance of way crews do a great job keeping an eye on the tracks,” Clemens said.

As the summer season nears its end, crews are preparing for the switch to winter service.

“Unfortunately, that does mean saying goodbye to those beautiful glass dome cars that we rode on this morning. That’s been a challenge to try to keep all that glass warm in the winter months,” Clemens said.

The railroad will continue running between Anchorage and Fairbanks throughout the winter. After Sunday, trains will run weekly instead of daily for the winter season.

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