The suggestion Carmacks may become a system hub if a rail line goes through the Yukon to Alaska is exciting, but it's something the village just heard about last week, says departing mayor Mick Larkin.

The Yukon government, in conjunction with Alaska, has spent the last year conducting a $5.5-million feasibility study into building a rail link.

At a media briefing held last Tuesday in Whitehorse, project manager Kells Boland stated the suggested route would be T-shaped, with Carmacks being at the centre.

The three prongs would then be built toward deep water ports in New Hazelton, B.C., Delta Junction, Alaska and either Haines or Skagway in the Inside Passage.

'It was the first time I've heard of it in this respect,' said Larkin, who left his position as mayor last week to retire in Panama.

Larkin said the community, which has a population of 420, hadn't been consulted during the study.

The project awarded contracts to consultants across North America to complete research on different aspects of the project. Approximately 45 per cent of the tenders were given to Yukon-based companies.

Larkin, however, said he believes Carmacks is up to the challenges becoming a hub could present. At last week's council meeting, individuals committed to begin collecting further information on the matter, he said.

'I can't imagine what it would do to real estate prices,' said Larkin. 'It's just mind-boggling. The ramifications are mind-boggling.'

The business and employment opportunities that would become available to Carmacks' residents if the rail line became a reality could be staggering, he said.

'None of us have experience with that kind of growth.'

Becoming a hub may move Carmacks from a small community to a small city, said Larkin.

'There is the potential to become the second-largest centre in the Yukon,' he added.

The idea may be frightening to some in the village, he said, with the current lack of information, but with proper planning it could prove beneficial for the community.

Eugene Lysy, the deputy minister for the Department of Economic Development, said there is not currently any information available on the impact such a project could have on Carmacks.

The rail link feasibility study is in the hands of a financial advisory group, made up of Macquarie North America Ltd., Ernst & Young Orenda, and Partnerships BC.

The group is looking at the project in terms of phasing and implementation by looking at the engineering, technical and marketing research from a 50-year life cycle perspective and placing it within an integrated investment model.

After that, the final findings will be provided to the study's management working group, which includes Premier Dennis Fentie, Alaska Gov. Frank Murkowski and Andy Carvill, the grand chief of the Council of Yukon First Nations. Recommendations will also be given to Economic Development, said Lysy.

It will come down to a question of where the rail link will be most needed, said Lysy.

'We don't have a conclusion on that yet. We'll need to take a look at the whole picture.'

Said Boland: 'From a business point of view, you go where the revenues are going to be generated, and I think the revenues are going to be generated in the Tintina trench, and Carmacks is sitting right in the middle of that. Trying to get out of Carmacks to a port is what we are going to be trying to move on.

'You can think about Carmacks and where are they going to go from there?'

Now is the time to start getting some information and a better understanding of where Carmacks may fit into the scheme of things, said Larkin.

But now isn't the time to get too excited, he said. No decisions have been made, and even after one is, it could take years before anything gets to Carmacks.

'Let it get to the point where it starts to become something before you start sticking your nose into it.'

The Star has been unable to reach Little Salmon Carmacks First Nation for comment.