Today marks the return of the White Pass and Yukon Route's rail service to Carcross after a 25-year hiatus.

White Pass will have two trains running daily, one north and one south, along the route from Carcross to Skagway, Alaska.

The 108-kilometre (67.5-mile) route is the longest operating narrow gauge railway in North America and consistently breaks previous summer passenger records it's set.

'It should have a good impact in Carcross,' Michael Brandt, vice-president of marketing and planning for White Pass, said in an interview today.

'That's why we have this collective vision, because we think it will have a real positive impact.'

Last Saturday, an enthusiastic crowd of 40 to 50 people met the train at Carcross as it pulled into the station.

'It's not just about bringing passengers in, it's about getting exposure for Carcross in general,' said Brandt.

'This is its big return after a 25-year absence, so there's been a lot of interest generated.'

White Pass has been busy advertising and promoting the return of rail service to Carcross, which has resulted in several film crews and writers coming to the area.

In the middle of June, a PBS crew will be here to film a segment for its Great Scenic Railway Journeys program, an Emmy Award-winning television series which profiles some of the world's most historic and scenic railways.

'This is a real opportunity to show what is available in Carcross, and we want to take full advantage of it,' Brandt said.

The community will also have a retail store full of White Pass memorabilia and gifts, as well as several Carcross-branded items including artwork, puzzles, magnets, mugs and hats.

Brandt said the retail store could be open by this weekend.

White Pass spent $8 million US in capital investment between Bennett, B.C. and Carcross to repair infrastructure. The efforts included repairs on the roadbed and work on rail and bridges at several locations along the route.

The company also purchased five new passenger coaches and restored five wooden coaches over the past winter. They have the total capacity of moving 450 passengers a day.

Part of the six-hour trip between Carcross and Skagway is a two-hour stop in Bennett, where passengers have a couple of hours' break to enjoy a traditional eating house meal.

An announcement was made on July 29, 2006 that White Pass would return to Carcross, on the 106th anniversary of the Golden Spike ceremony commemorating the completion of the White Pass and Yukon Route.

The announcement was made jointly with the Holland America Line, which has made the commitment to carry its passengers by train to and from Skagway and Carcross. They will provide the initial base of more than 20,000 passengers, giving White Pass the commitment it needed to begin service to Carcross again.

White Pass ended the 2006 season with a new annual ridership record of 431,249 revenue passengers, a slight increase over the previous year's 430,037 revenue passengers.

It has become Alaska's most popular shore excursion and North America's busiest tourist railway.

The railway was built in 1898 during the Klondike Gold Rush. It is an International Historic Civil Engineering Landmark, a distinction it shares with other famous sites including the Panama Canal, the Eiffel Tower, and the Statue of Liberty.

Skagway-to-Whitehorse service ended in 1982 when the then-Cyprus Anvil Mining Corp. lead-zinc mine closed in Faro.

The concentrates had been shipped from Faro to Whitehorse by truck, then loaded onto trains for the port of Skagway. Without that revenue, Skagway-Whitehorse train service wasn't profitable.

White Pass is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tri-White Corp. based in Toronto.