Alaska Railroad spared budget reductions

ANCHORAGE — It looks likely funding for Alaska Railroad Corp. included in Federal Transit Administration formula funds will continue at roughly equal levels, according to a statement from Congressman Don Young.

Late Wednesday evening, the House-Senate Conference Committee reached an agreement on the surface transportation bill that includes funding for ARRC in a new funding formula.

How much money will arrive via the new formula has not been confirmed, according to Chris Aadnesen, Alaska Railroad president and CEO. So far, Aadnesen said the railroad expects to receive about $4.8 million less.

Still that’s better than the 75 percent reduction in funding the railroad faced in the Senate’s version of the transportation bill.

“A great deal of thanks goes to Congressman Young and Senators Murkowski and Begich for their hard work to retain critical funding for the Alaska Railroad in the transportation bill,” Aadnesen said. “We deeply appreciate their backing as well as the support we received from Alaskans from every corner of the state, our employees and labor leaders from across the country.”

The House and the Senate are expected to consider the legislation this week, Young said.