Commuter Rail COOs Journey North for Alaska Workshop

The Alaska Railroad Corporation (ARRC) hosted APTA’s annual Commuter Rail Chief Operating Officers (COOs) Subcommittee workshop at its headquarters in Anchorage May 28-29. Participants included representatives from Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART), Metra, Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA), Caltrain, TexRail, Sound Transit, Denver RTD, Herzog, Modern Railway Systems, and Frankfurt S-Bahn.

Led by subcommittee chair Anthony Fuller, VP of commuter rail services DART, the event provided valuable time for commuter rail COOs to meet face to face with peers to share operational strategies and foster industry collaboration. APTA President and CEO Paul P. Skoutelas was also in attendance and had the opportunity to visit APTA’s northern-most member railroad and learn more about some of the challenges that commuter railroads face in that region.

Learning from the Last Frontier

The ARRC is the last full-service railroad in the U.S., providing both passenger and freight rail services. CEO Bill O’Leary welcomed the group and stated his desire to engage in more collaboration with passenger railroads from the Lower 48. To see first-hand the experience of passenger rail in Alaska, the group embarked on one of the most scenic train trips in North America aboard the ARRC’s Coastal Classic from Anchorage to Seward.

While the ARRC provides year-round passenger service, the trip in May marked the beginning of the busy passenger season. This allowed the COOs to experience the agency’s transition to increased passenger operations to accommodate the influx of visitors to the state during the summer months. The COOs could draw parallels to their own operations, as agencies seek to adapt and recover ridership after the pandemic with new services outside the traditional commuter rail peak service.

Shared Challenges, Unique Perspectives

Despite differences in geography and ridership, the visiting COOs found common ground with the ARRC on key industry issues such as workforce recruitment and retention, federal compliance, infrastructure funding, and long-term capital planning.

During meetings on the second day of the workshop, Dave Greenhalgh, VP of marketing & customer service at ARRC, gave insights into the agency’s passenger operations. The railroad, he explained, serves as “critical infrastructure for a massive state with very few roads,” underscoring the importance of rail services in ensuring mobility throughout Alaska.

Representatives from Frankfurt S-Bahn Rhein-Main, Modern Railway Systems, Sound Transit, Metra, and Herzog also presented to the group. After a roundtable discussion and updates on projects and ridership, Ryan Coholan, COO of MBTA, was appointed as the new vice-chair of the subcommittee.

Following another fruitful convening, the commuter rail COOs returned to their agencies with strengthened industry relationships and better equipped to tackle challenges.