ANCHORAGE (AP) -- A $28 million rail depot going up at Anchorage's international airport is touted as an efficient way to move tourists directly from Seward to the airport, but trains heading for the depot may delay locals rushing to their flights.
The Alaska Railroad passenger train will cross the main thoroughfare to Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport. Not only will trains occasionally hold up traffic, but buses will be required to stop and check for oncoming trains.
It is another revelation in a project that some people claim had little consideration from the public and state lawmakers when it was conceived a few years ago.
''The public process was horrible,'' said state Rep. Andrew Halcro, R-Anchorage, a strong critic of the depot.
The rail depot was born out of a federal appropriation in 1999 on the cusp of a massive airport makeover. The depot's rail ramp is now rising at the airport north of the main parking garage.
Railroad officials said they are working out how often to run trains to the airport, what times of day, how much to charge and how many passengers are needed for the service to make sense.
Current thinking is that the train would operate only in summer at first and target cruise ship passengers, said Patrick Flynn, a railroad spokesman.
The train is expected to start running in August 2002, offering direct service between the airport and Seward, a port where many Alaska cruise trips begin or end. It would cross roads near the airport at least twice a day, Flynn said.
The train will haul just a few cars. The last time a train crossed airport access roads regularly was in summer 1997, when the railroad was still hauling about 20 tank cars of jet fuel a day, Flynn said.
The railroad is looking at ways to reduce road crossings. One option would involve straightening the track along International Airport Road and building a tunnel and bridge.
Jon Grisham, acting manager at Anchorage Checker Cab, said the depot could hurt cabbies if service is expanded between downtown Anchorage and the airport.
Halcro holds the opposite view. He believes the depot will not be used much.
Trains do not offer tourists the same flexibility as motor coaches, which can pull off at Portage Glacier, Alyeska Resort and other popular roadside attractions, he said.
Halcro also questions the railroad's long-term goal of getting residents to use the airport rail, such as running trains between the airport and its downtown Anchorage depot.
A 1999 feasibility study predicted 80,000 locals a year would be taking the train to the airport by 2004, but Halcro said those numbers seem ''way out of whack.''
''You look at that study and think, 'There is no way they're serious about this, are they?''' he said.
Railroad officials acknowledge it will take time to attract users and market the service but said the project is a ''once-in-a-generation opportunity'' to bring rail access to the airport.
Some tour and cruise ship operators welcome the new depot. Princess Cruises spokesman Tom Dow said several hundred passengers arriving in Seward each week during the summer take the train to downtown Anchorage and then fly out the same day.
''We look at the depot as an added convenience to our passengers,'' he said.
