**Testimony of Tom Brooks**

**Assistant Vice President and Chief Engineer**

**Alaska Railroad**

**Before the Senate Subcommittee on National Parks,**

**Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee**

**Hearing:**

**S. 1808, a bill to authorize the exchange of certain land in Denali
National Park, AK**

**September 27, 2007**

**Statement of Tom Brooks, Assistant Vice President and Chief Engineer,
Alaska Railroad**

**Subcommittee on National Parks**

**U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources**

**September 27, 2007**

Thank you, Mr. Chairman and members of the subcommittee, for your
invitation to speak with you today on behalf of the Alaska Railroad. My
name is Tom Brooks, and I am Assistant Vice President and Chief Engineer
at the Alaska Railroad.

The Alaska Railroad is a State-owned railroad carrying both passengers
and freight. The Alaska Railroad was originally built and operated by
the U.S. Government in the early 1900's through the enabling statute
adopted by the U.S. Congress in 1914. It was sold to the State of Alaska
in January 1985. The 500-mile-long mainline runs from the south central
city of Seward to the interior city of Fairbanks as the enabling act
required. The Alaska Railroad carried over a half-million passengers in
2006.

The Alaska Railroad provides passenger service to Denali National Park.
Through S. 1808, the bill being considered at this hearing, the Alaska
Railroad, with the help of Senator Murkowski, seeks to exchange up to 25
acres of Denali National Park land for an equal amount of Alaska
Railroad land, in order to build a turnaround for our trains. The
formerly Alaska Railroad land given to the National Park Service would
be designated as wilderness lands.

The Alaska Railroad has been carrying passengers to this national park
since the early 1920s, long before rail access into our national parks
came into vogue. The number of rail passengers to Denali National Park
has been increasing each year. In 2001, 198,737 passengers used the
Denali Park Rail Station, and in 2006 that number grew to 303,741
passengers. The Alaska Railroad has accommodated this growth by adding
additional direct trains; however, the options to improve service are
limited because trains cannot be turned around. The existence of a
turnaround track, known as a "wye track," at Denali would allow more
frequent trains and more flexible rail schedules, thus accommodating the
continued growth and development of rail access to Denali Park. There
was originally a turnaround track at the Denali Rail Station, which was
too short for modern train lengths and thus, with Railroad concurrence,
converted to Park Service use in the 1980s.

Besides enhancing visitor access options, there are other public
benefits of a turnaround track at Denali National Park. The rail mode of
transportation offers less highway traffic congestion, improved public
safety, and less environmental impact than the highway alternative.
Improved access to parkland through public transportation is a national
policy goal, as evidenced by the Department of Transportation's Transit
in the Parks program created by Congress in 2005.

The National Park Service and the Alaska Region of the National Parks
Conservation Association both support the land exchange as described in
the bill. The Association has written a letter of support, which I will
submit for the record. We are also pleased that there is a companion
bill in the other body.

S. 1808 is thus a win-win for the Alaska Railroad, the National Park
Service and the hundreds of thousands of visitors that would benefit
from access to our nation's treasured Denali National Park.

Thank you for the opportunity to appear before the Committee today. I
will be happy to answer any questions the Committee might have.