Alaska-Alberta Railway Development Corporation

Alaska-Alberta Railway Development Corporation, commonly referred to as A2A, was a Canadian railway-development entity established around a proposal to build, own, and operate a long-distance rail corridor between Alaska and Alberta. The planned railway was intended to connect with the Alaska Railroad near Delta Junction, Alaska, pass through Yukon and northern British Columbia, and terminate at Fort McMurray, Alberta. Rather than being an established railway operator, A2A functioned as a project-development and promotion company whose principal asset was the proposed infrastructure scheme. The concept addressed several strategic objectives. It promised a new freight connection between Alaska and the lower Canadian and North American rail networks, potentially improving access to ports and markets in Southcentral Alaska while supporting resource transportation in western and northern Canada. The proposed corridor also had possible applications in moving bulk commodities and servicing resource projects. A2A discussed operating over, or interchanging with, portions of the Alaska Railroad and negotiated in relation to the proposed Port MacKenzie Railway Extension in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough of Alaska. The project was substantial in scale. The planned route was described as approximately 2,600 kilometres, or 1,600 miles, and estimates reported around 2020 placed its capital cost at approximately CA$20 billion. A competing railway proposal associated with G7G Railway gave a broadly comparable estimate in U.S. dollars. A2A also promoted concepts involving oil transportation from rail facilities near Delta Junction to the coast using connections to the Trans-Alaska Pipeline system. Planning activity included a route study by the Van Horne Institute in 2013 and the beginning of land surveys in the Alberta segment in July 2020. In September 2020, U.S. President Donald Trump announced that he would issue a presidential permit for the proposed railway. A2A also announced a joint operating-planning arrangement with the Alaska Railroad and appointed JP Gladu as president of A2A Rail Canada. These developments did not lead to construction: available accounts indicate that the railway remained at a conceptual or preliminary planning stage, with no evidence of substantial field construction. The project was disrupted by financial and governance problems involving A2A's principal financial backer, Bridging Finance Inc., and shareholder Sean McCoshen. The Ontario Securities Commission investigated alleged irregularities in dealings involving McCoshen-related companies and Bridging Finance executives. After Bridging Finance entered receivership in April 2021, its receiver sought repayment of a large A2A loan. A2A lacked the funds to repay the obligation and entered creditor protection in June 2021. The company was subsequently placed in receivership, and work on the railway was abandoned. The receiver identified consulting reports and intellectual property as the company's principal assets, rather than a completed railway or operating assets. McCoshen later filed for personal bankruptcy in Oregon. A2A is therefore best understood as a defunct, unsuccessful infrastructure-development venture rather than an operating railroad.

Alaska-Alberta Railway Development Corporation was created to advance a proposed railway linking Alaska with Alberta. The project was also known as A2A, short for Alaska to Alberta. Its planned route would have begun at Delta Junction, Alaska, where it would connect with the Alaska Railroad, then continued through Yukon and northern British Columbia before reaching Fort McMurray, Alberta. The proposed corridor was approximately 2,600 kilometres long. The project was conceived as a cross-border freight and resource-transportation corridor. By connecting the Alaska Railroad with Canada's wider rail system, it could have provided Alaska with an additional route to continental markets and ports while supporting industrial and resource development in northern western Canada. A2A also considered arrangements involving the Alaska Railroad and discussed the Port MacKenzie Railway Extension with the Matanuska-Susitna Borough. Some project concepts contemplated moving oil from rail cars near Delta Junction toward the coast using the Trans-Alaska Pipeline system. Route planning preceded the company's most visible activity. The Van Horne Institute studied the proposed corridor in 2013. In July 2020, A2A announced that surveys had begun in the Alberta segment, although the available record does not show that this developed into substantial construction or completed railway infrastructure. Around the same period, the project was estimated to require approximately CA$20 billion in capital. A competing proposal associated with G7G Railway cited a similar order of magnitude in U.S. dollars. The project received a significant political development in September 2020, when President Donald Trump announced that he would issue a presidential permit for the railway. A2A also reported an agreement with the Alaska Railroad to develop a joint operating plan and announced JP Gladu as president of A2A Rail Canada. These steps remained part of the planning and approvals process; they did not establish an operating railway. The venture's progress was later overtaken by financing and governance problems. Bridging Finance Inc. was A2A's principal financial backer, while Sean McCoshen was identified as A2A's only shareholder. In 2021, the Ontario Securities Commission investigated alleged irregularities in the financial relationship between McCoshen-related companies and Bridging Finance. Allegations included transfers involving Bridging Finance's chief executive and the diversion of money connected with A2A financing to personal or apparently unrelated corporate uses. These were allegations associated with the investigation and should not be treated as adjudicated findings without additional legal sources. Bridging Finance entered receivership in April 2021. Its receiver, PricewaterhouseCoopers, sought repayment of an A2A loan in early June, but A2A did not have sufficient funds. The company entered creditor protection in June 2021 and was subsequently placed in receivership. By that point, the railway remained conceptual, and the receiver's identified assets consisted primarily of consulting reports and intellectual property rather than track, stations, rolling stock, or other operating assets. Work on the project was abandoned. McCoshen filed for personal bankruptcy in Oregon two months after A2A entered receivership. The company's history consequently ended without construction or railway operations.

1. 2021Bridging Finance enters receivership

   A2A's principal financial backer was placed under receivership while regulators investigated alleged irregularities involving its dealings with A2A's shareholder.

   Source
2. 2021A2A enters creditor protection and receivership

   Unable to repay a loan claim after its financier's collapse, A2A sought creditor protection and was later placed in receivership.

   Source
3. 2020Land surveys announced in Alberta

   A2A announced the beginning of land surveys in the Alberta segment of the proposed route.

   Source
4. 2020Presidential permit announced

   The U.S. president announced an intention to issue a presidential permit for the proposed cross-border railway.

   Source
5. 2013Van Horne Institute studies the proposed route

   The Van Horne Institute conducted a study of the proposed Alaska-to-Alberta railway corridor, contributing to the project's early planning record.

   Source

Cross-border railway infrastructure development and regional freight-connectivity planning

• A2A RailwayProposed cross-border railway

  The company's principal offering was not an operating product but a proposed approximately 2,600-kilometre railway connecting Delta Junction, Alaska, with Fort McMurray, Alberta. The route was intended to pass through Yukon and northern British Columbia, interchange with the Alaska Railroad, and provide freight and resource-transportation access between Alaska and Canada's rail network. The project remained in planning and did not reach construction or operation.

• Railway development studies and surveysInfrastructure development services2013

  A2A's development work included route studies, land surveys, operating-plan discussions, and related consulting and intellectual-property development. These activities supported the proposed railway but did not result in a completed transport service. The receiver later identified consulting reports and intellectual property among the company's principal assets.

• 2020A2A Railway corridor promotion and approvals campaign

  Canada · United States

  A2A promoted the proposed Alaska-to-Alberta corridor through route surveys, discussions with the Alaska Railroad, and efforts to secure political and regulatory support for a cross-border operating concept.

  Outcome. A presidential permit was announced, but the project did not proceed to substantial construction.

  Source

• 2021Seek creditor protectionOther

  Bridging Finance entered receivership, and its receiver sought repayment of an A2A loan. A2A lacked the funds required to repay the claim.

  What changed. A2A filed for creditor protection and was subsequently placed in receivership.

  Aftermath. The project was abandoned, with the receiver identifying consulting reports and intellectual property rather than completed railway infrastructure as principal assets.

  Debt owed to Bridging Finance. Approximately CA$212.9 million in total reported debt; a separate repayment demand concerned a reported CA$149 million loan (2021 receivership proceedings)

  Source
• 2020Advance a Delta Junction–Fort McMurray rail corridorStrategy

  A2A sought to create a direct cross-border rail connection between the Alaska Railroad and the Canadian rail network through Yukon and northern British Columbia.

  What changed. The company pursued route studies, surveys, operating-plan discussions, and regulatory support for a railway estimated to require approximately CA$20 billion.

  Aftermath. The railway remained at the planning stage and was later abandoned after the company's financing problems.

  Estimated capital cost. Approximately CA$20 billion (2020 estimate)

  • G7G Railway — G7G Railway presented a competing proposal with a reported capital-cost estimate of just under US$20 billion.
  Source

• 2021Investigation into A2A and Bridging Finance dealingsControversy

  The Ontario Securities Commission investigated alleged irregularities involving A2A shareholder Sean McCoshen, companies linked to him, and Bridging Finance. Reported allegations included payments involving Bridging Finance's chief executive and the use of funds associated with A2A financing for personal or apparently unrelated corporate purposes.

  Source

• 2021A2A enters creditor protection after Bridging Finance loan demand

  After Bridging Finance entered receivership and its receiver sought repayment, A2A entered creditor protection because it could not repay the claimed loan obligations.

  BankruptcyOther
  Source
• 2021A2A railway project placed in receivership

  The development company was placed in receivership. The railway had not progressed beyond planning, and the receiver identified consulting reports and intellectual property among its principal assets.

  BankruptcyOther
  Source
• 2020A2A railway proposal receives announced presidential-permit support

  U.S. President Donald Trump announced that he would issue a presidential permit for the proposed Alaska-to-Alberta railway, an important regulatory and political signal for the cross-border project.

  RegulationOther
  Source
• 2020A2A begins reported Alberta route surveys

  The company announced the start of land surveys in the Alberta portion of the proposed railway corridor. Available accounts do not establish that substantial construction followed.

  Other
  Source

1. Alaska-Alberta Railway Development Corporation