New Mexico Commuter-rail project Albuquerque to Santa Fe

From todays Albuquerque Journal.

Governor Says Commuter-Rail Project Chugging Forward

By John T. Huddy
Journal Staff Writer
Tooting train whistles and wearing engineer caps, Gov. Bill Richardson and state Transportation Secretary Rhonda Faught on Friday touted the state's acquisition of an 18-mile rail corridor between Santa Fe and Lamy as another move toward a regional commuter rail system.
The governor said commuter trains should be running between Albuquerque and Santa Fe by 2008.
"It will get people out of their cars and thus reduce traffic congestion," Richardson said during a news conference at the Roundhouse.
Faught stopped short of saying definitively that Santa Fe also would get a local commuter line extending to Eldorado or Lamy along the 18-mile corridor that the state has acquired— a plan that's been discussed for years.
"We need to work on Phase 2 (getting an Albuquerque-to-Santa Fe commuter service running) first," Faught said, before deciding whether the route between the City Different, Eldorado or Lamy is feasible for commuter service.
"It's a pretty slow track, so we're not even sure if that would work," she said.
Richardson, flanked by city and state leaders, beamed about the state's plans to create a regional commuter service from Belen to Albuquerque and then northward into Santa Fe, using Burlington Northern rail lines and part of the 18-mile Lamy corridor.
Richardson said commuter trains should be running between Belen and Santa Fe in about three years.
"This is a major milestone in our efforts to get commuter rail rolling in New Mexico," the governor said.
"In just three years, commuter trains will be carrying New Mexicans between Belen and Santa Fe, and our dream will become reality."
"It's about opportunity and literally moving New Mexico forward," Richardson said.
"We're on the right track... get it?" Richardson said to laughter, before tooting a railroad whistle and putting on his engineer's cap.

Santa Fe Southern
With $4.6 million in state funds and $5.4 million from the federal government, the city of Santa Fe bought the 18-mile corridor from Santa Fe Southern Railway.
While Santa Fe Southern will retain ownership of the train and continue its tourist excursions from the downtown Railyard to Lamy, the state took over the tracks and land from Santa Fe, and will manage operation of the planned regional commuter service from the Duke City into Santa Fe.
Faught said plans call for laying an additional 14 miles of train tracks to connect Burlington Northern tracks near the town of Cochiti northward to Santa Fe.
"We still need to identify a proper route," Faught said, using a map showing the Santa Fe/Lamy tracks and their proximity to the Burlington Northern railway as a reference guide.
What Faught did say with certainty is that the Albuquerque lines would likely connect with the Lamy line close to St. Francis Drive near Interstate 25.
If the state is unsure of a Santa Fe-to-Lamy service, why did it purchase the full 18-mile Lamy corridor?
Faust explained that Santa Fe Southern would make the deal only if the state acquired the full line, not just a quarter or a third of the track.
The national nonprofit Trust for Public Land helped attract the funding for public acquisition of the Santa Fe Southern line.
In news releases Friday, the trust said the acquisition does "create an opportunity" for commuter rail service to Eldorado as well as from Albuquerque.
The deal also "will provide essential hiking and biking linkages to the (downtown) Railyard Park and Plaza," Trust for Public Land said.
The Santa Fe Rail Trail, a biking and hiking trail, already exists along most of the route.

Becoming reality
The regional commuter line plans, years in existence, are on the state's fast track.
The $75 million Belen-Albuquerque line is planned to be operational by the fall of 2005.
The cost of starting commuter service between Bernalillo and Santa Fe is estimated at $150 million to $200 million, according to estimates from the Mid-Regional Council of Governments, the agency heading the Belen-Albuquerque rail line plan.
And regional commuter service may not only stop in Santa Fe, either.
House Speaker Ben Lujan said during Friday's conference that he plans to propose legislation exploring the feasibility of continuing regional commuter service north from Santa Fe into other parts of northern New Mexico. "Like Española and Taos, right?" Richardson asked, getting a nod from Lujan.
"I think that's a great idea," Richardson said.
Faught said she and other state officials working on the commuter rail are confident there will be ridership "because our Park and Ride program (taking commuters from Albuquerque into Santa Fe) is operating at 105 percent capacity... people are asking for this service," she said.
The state will hire a company to maintain the lines, but New Mexico will ultimately have control over their service.
State leaders must work out service schedule arrangements with Burlington Northern, "but certainly it's to the state's benefit if we own the line," Faught said.

‘On the right track’ -- New Mexico buys railroad's right of way for commuter project

By Julie Ann Grimm | The New Mexican
January 8, 2005

The railroads tracks between Santa Fe and Lamy came under public ownership Friday after state officials clenched a deal that is expected to hasten the arrival of a commuter rail in New Mexico.

The 18 miles of track, along with the land under and beside them, was formerly owned by Santa Fe Southern Railway and will continue to be used for excursion and freight travel for now. By the spring of 2008, Gov. Bill Richardson vows that part of the now state-owned tracks also will be used for commuter trains that will shuttle workers and visitors between Albuquerque and Santa Fe.

“We’re on the right track,â€