A train ride through Alaska reveals much more than the state’s natural treasures
In the summer, the population of Alaska nearly triples itself. More than one million visitors arrive in the land of calving glaciers, perpetually snow-covered peaks and incomparable wildlife, where black bears snatch salmon from pristine streams and orcas and otters dance in the 21-hour daylight days.
But even beauty has a dark side. In Alaska, this means 10 months of winter, a handful of daylight between December and February and temperatures that hover well below zero for the majority of the year. This is the Alaska I remember most: I spent 14 years of my childhood in Anchorage, the state’s largest city, watching the sun rise from the classroom window and set by fourth period. It’s also the main reason I’ve preferred warmer climates since I turned 18, specifically those where snow isn’t just unlikely, but has a snowball’s chance in hell, like in my adopted hometown of Mumbai.
But last year, I found myself back in Alaska, in part for a family reunion but mainly to see for myself, as an adult, what brings travellers from around the world to America’s 49th state. And perhaps because I’d lived in India for over a year, I chose the railroad as my primary means of transport, even though most travellers to Alaska—nearly 57 percent—arrive by sea on cruise ships from Seattle or Vancouver, exploring the small villages along Alaska’s rocky coastline, before landing in Anchorage.
As it turns out, I’m not the only one.
“One interesting trend we’ve noticed is a rise of independent travellers on the railroad,” says Ally Berry, an executive at Thompson & Co. PR, representing the Alaska Travel Industry Association.
Alaska’s 500-mile railbelt runs north from Anchorage, the state’s railroad hub, to Fairbanks, the state’s second largest city, through the Denali National Park—six million acres of the nation’s most pristine wilderness, plus Mt McKinley, North America’s highest peak—and south to Seward, the state’s halibut fishing capital. But the 420,000 passengers of the railroad in America’s largest but one of the least populated states (just over 700,000 residents, as per the latest census results) aren’t commuters hoping to avoid urban traffic: They’re tourists.
Between May and September 2011, Alaska attracted roughly 1.5 million visitors, a significant number of them from abroad. “Our passengers come from all over the world,” confirms Susie Kiger, director of passenger sales and marketing for the Alaska Railroad, listing the UK, Germany, Japan, Australia and, increasingly, Latin America as the top tourist-providers.
Elizabeth Irwin, a 10-year Alaska resident originally from Minnesota, serves me an egg scramble with a side of reindeer sausage while telling me the best part about her job is the chance to meet tourists from all parts of the world, including India.
She also calls the Anchorage-Seward route we’re travelling on the best “bang for your buck,” offering glimpses of glaciers, mountains and wildlife over the course of its four-hour journey. “I always thought the highway was beautiful, but the train is so much better,” she says, referring to the Seward Highway that runs parallel to this part of the track, a road heralded as one of America’s most scenic drives. At some point, the two part ways as the train cuts through the raw wilderness on its way south, a blue-green whirl of mountains and trees, punctuated by glaciers, grazing moose and the occasional eagle’s nest. Because it’s August, the land is also covered in an indigo blanket of fireweed, the state’s best-known wildflower. The fiery purple stalks bloom from the base to the tip over the course of the summer—a bittersweet moment, for when the entire stock is in full bloom, Alaskans can expect just six more weeks of warm weather.
“Stand outside when the train goes through the tunnels,” she says, letting me in on a secret. “But be sure to grab a jacket.” Later, I will follow her advice and join a growing crowd of passengers on the balcony. But, freezing, I don’t stay for long, taking one quick picture and fairly running back to the regulated temperatures of the train car.
Rail travel, on the other hand, is the “greenest” way to get around—almost 20 percent more energy efficient than airplanes and 28 percent more efficient than cars on a per-passenger-mile basis, according to recent figures by the US Department of Energy. The Alaskan railroad also earned a nod from the US Environmental Protection Agency for its efforts to curb emissions as well as energy and water consumption by running more energy-efficient, lower-emission locomotives, which run on ultra-low-sulfur diesel fuel, along its tracks.
(This story appears in the 22 June, 2012 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)