Rail Extension to Nome

The expansion of port capability, which might include large staging areas for off-shore petroleum development, might combine with other factors to justify surface access from, or to, the east. For example, the potential scale of off-shore oil and gas production in the Chukchi Sea, if developed after exploration, could dramatically increase the need for shipments to and from the region. There are other resource development opportunities in the region served by Nome and further to the north. Notably, there is a huge coal reserve on the western end of the North Slope.