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The Alaska Railroad Corp. (ARRC) maintained steady net income of $13.4 million in 2011 while total revenue rose from $167.1 million in 2010 to $185.7 million.

The improved finances resulted in part from “a more diversified customer base,” ARRC officials said in a prepared statement.

Despite a decline in some legacy lines of business, freight train revenue rose 12.7 percent in part because of expanded coal exports and a 3 percent volume increase in barge-rail traffic from Seattle and Canada, they said.

Passenger revenue climbed 7.7 percent, as ridership increased from 405,000 in 2010 to 413,000.

Net income from the railroad’s real estate leasing and permitting totaled $8.5 million, “which remains crucial to meeting the ARRC mandate to remain self-sufficient,” officials said.

ARRC is owned by the state of Alaska, but receives no state money to support its operations. Net income funds capital investments, matches federal dollars and supports workforce programs.

Also last year, two major rail extension projects moved from environmental analysis to design and construction: the Northern Rail Extension, which got under way with the construction of a bridge over the Tanana River at Salcha; and the Port MacKenzie Rail Extension, which entered the final design, permitting and land acquisition phases.