(The following article by Kyle Hopkins was posted on the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner website on December 23.)
FAIRBANKS, Alaska — The Alaska Railroad aims to take the “coach” out of passenger coaches.
Beginning with two new double-decker passenger cars, the company expects to add a costlier first-class option for ticket buyers by the 2005 tourist season.
The railroad is in the process of buying the cars now, which officials say will help update its fleet and increase passenger capacity. No price or manufacturer has been decided on, though Colorado Railcar, based in Fort Lupton, Colo., is a likely choice.
The cars will carry about 70 passengers in a domed upper level, while a large galley, or kitchen, would fill the lower section.
Premium seating has been a common request, said Alaska Railroad spokesman Pat Flynn.
“A lot of people call and say, ‘Is there an upgraded service available?'” he said.
There is elsewhere in North America.
The British Columbia-based Great Canadian Railtour Co. operates a business called Rocky Mountaineer Railtours, which ferries passengers between Vancouver, B.C., and Jasper, Banff and Calgary, Alberta.
In 1995, that company began offering a more expensive first-class service in two-story passenger coaches of its own. It’s among the businesses the Alaska Railroad looked to for inspiration.
Graham Gilley, Rocky Mountaineer Railtours vice president of marketing, said the first-class seating was a hit with customers, and by February the company will have a fleet of 12 premium cars available.
The Canadian company’s upgraded service costs twice as much as a regular ticket, but now accounts for 50 percent of sales, Gilley said.
In comparison, the feature generated just 5 percent of sales when it was introduced less than 10 years ago.
Rocky Mountaineer Railtours’ new passenger coaches were produced by Colorado Railcar and cost about $3.5 million per car, Gilley said.
Flynn said the Alaska Railroad’s cars will be custom built to the company’s needs, meaning they may not be directly comparable to the double-decker coaches the Canadian outfit uses.
The Alaska Railroad is owned by the state of Alaska but not paid for through the state’s general fund. Passenger services account for about 15 percent of its revenue.
The company boasts 21 passenger-seating coaches and carried 113,284 passengers during the summer season this year.
Some of the coaches it uses are more than 50 years old, and, at times during the summer, every piece of passenger equipment is in use, Flynn said. “This will add some flexibility for when trains sell out, we can add more coaches.”
The cost of a first-class ticket, as well as the kinds of services that would go along with it, is still being worked out.