Cruise ship giant Carnival buys White Pass & Yukon Route

Carnival Corporation & plc billed as the "world's largest leisure travel company" is taking over the famous White Pass & Yukon Route railway in Alaska.

Carnival's subsidiary company, Holland America Princess Alaska Tours, has agreed to buy the scenic tourist train and railway, along with its port and retail operations in Skagway, Alaska, from TWCEnterprises Ltd. for $290 million US.

The White Pass & Yukon Route train runs every summer on the 110-kilometre historic railwaybetween Skagway and Carcross, Yukon. Thousands ofpeople ride the train each day.

Many of those riders are cruise ship passengers on a day trip from Skagway.

According to a news release from Carnival Corp., aKetchikan, Alaska-basedcompany will manage the terminal operations and customer relations for the railway, in agreement with Holland America.

Stein Kruse, CEO of the Holland America Group, statesin the release that Skagway is "beloved by our guests and crew."

"We have a long and valued history inAlaska, and remain very committed to the continued development and success of the entire region as one our most popular destinations," he says.

Built during the gold rush

Construction on the historic railway began almost exactly 120 years ago on May 28, 1898, at the height of the Klondike Gold Rush.

It was a massive feat of engineering, involving thousands of men,tons of imported timber (local timber splintered too easily), and plenty of dynamite. Two tunnels and several bridges and trestles had to be built through the steep mountains.

The line to Carcross was complete in July1900just over twoyears after workhad begun. At least 35 workers had died during construction, according to the company.

For decades, the railway carried ore to Skagwayto be loaded onto ships. It also suppliedmaterials to the U.S. Army building the Alaska Highway during the Second World War.

By the early 1980s, the train suspended operations, but the route was revived in 1988 as a tourist train.

Since then, it's become a huge part of Skagway'stourism industry. Thousands of people pour off of cruise ships in Skagway each summer to explore the area. The railway has said 5,000 to 6,000 people ride the train on a typicalday.

Carnival's purchase of the White Pass and Yukon Route will include three docks in Skagway, that provide berths for some cruise ships.

The deal is scheduled to close on July 31.