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Proponents of a bold plan to build an electric railway line from Fort McMurray, Alta., to Alaska are wondering why, as the Trans Mountain expansion dispute balloons to saga-like proportions, governments aren’t jumping aboard.

“It’s frustrating,” says G7G CEO Matt Vickers, whose company has been working on the project for eight years.

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“It shocks me why politicians aren’t all over this.”

The rail line would be purpose-built to carry oil, potash, grain and lumber from Fort McMurray through northern British Columbia and Yukon to Delta Junction, Alaska. The railway would be powered by renewables and have built-in safety stops to avoid tragedies like what happened in the Quebec town of Lac-Mégantic.

It took Vickers three years, but he secured approval from all the First Nations along the proposed route as well as a resolution of support from the National Assembly of First Nations.

Earlier this month, he travelled to London, England, to meet with an investor who agreed to backstop the $27-billion project (if the federal government gets onboard with a non-sovereign guarantee).