The New Mexico Rail Runner Express (
AAR reporting mark
A reporting mark is a code used to identify owners or lessees of rolling stock and other equipment used on certain rail transport networks. The code typically reflects the name or identifying number of the owner, lessee, or operator of the equip ...
NMRX) is a
commuter rail
Commuter rail, or suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting Commuting, commuters to a Downtown, central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter towns. Generally commuter r ...
system serving the metropolitan areas of
Albuquerque
Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding in ...
and
Santa Fe,
New Mexico
)
, population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano)
, seat = Santa Fe
, LargestCity = Albuquerque
, LargestMetro = Tiguex
, OfficialLang = None
, Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ke ...
. It is administered by the
New Mexico Department of Transportation
The New Mexico Department of Transportation (NMDOT; es, Departamento de Transporte de Nuevo México) is a state government organization which oversees transportation in New Mexico, State of New Mexico in the southwestern United States. The agency ...
(NMDOT) and the Rio Metro Regional Transit District (Rio Metro), a regional transportation agency, while Herzog Transit Services currently holds the contract for the operation and maintenance of the line & equipment. Phase I of the system, operating on an existing
right-of-way
Right of way is the legal right, established by grant from a landowner or long usage (i.e. by prescription), to pass along a specific route through property belonging to another.
A similar ''right of access'' also exists on land held by a gov ...
from
Belen to
Bernalillo
Bernalillo () is a town in Sandoval County, New Mexico, United States. As of the 2010 census, the town population was 8,320. It is the county seat of Sandoval County.
Bernalillo is part of the Albuquerque Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Histor ...
that NMDOT purchased from
BNSF Railway, opened in July 2006. Phase II, the extension of the line to Santa Fe, opened in December 2008. Daily ridership, as of February 2019, was 2,200 trips per day. In , the system had a ridership of , or about per weekday as of .
History
The concept of passenger rail serving the Central New Mexico corridor had been discussed for decades, but it wasn't until August 2003, when
New Mexico Governor
, insignia = Seal of the Governor of New Mexico.svg
, insigniasize = 110px
, insigniacaption = Seal of the Governor
, image = File:Michelle Lujan Grisham 2021.jpg
, imagesize = 200px
, alt =
, incumbent = Michelle Lujan Grisham
, incu ...
Bill Richardson
William Blaine Richardson III (born November 15, 1947) is an American politician, author, and diplomat who served as the 30th governor of New Mexico from 2003 to 2011. He was also the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and Energy Secretary ...
announced that his administration was going to pursue the implementation of commuter rail service, that a serious effort got underway. Later that same year, grants were given to NMDOT and MRCOG to begin the effort, and the
New Mexico State Legislature
The New Mexico Legislature ( es, Legislatura de Nuevo México) is the legislative branch of the state government of New Mexico. It is a bicameral body made up of the New Mexico House of Representatives and the New Mexico Senate.
History
The Ne ...
passed Governor Richardson's Investment Partnership (GRIP), a transportation improvement package with the Rail Runner included as one of the bill's projects.
Over the next few years, NMDOT and the Mid-Region Council of Governments (MRCOG) developed a strategy for implementing the rail service. In 2005, a name and a branding scheme was chosen. The name “Rail Runner” is a play on the name of New Mexico's
state bird, the
roadrunner
The roadrunners (genus ''Geococcyx''), also known as chaparral birds or chaparral cocks, are two species of fast-running ground cuckoos with long tails and crests. They are found in the southwestern and south-central United States and Mexico, us ...
. The cars and locomotives were received throughout the year of 2005 and groundbreaking for the first Rail Runner station took place on October 31, 2005. During this time the state also conducted negotiations with BNSF over the use of the railroad track. After assessing the needs of the track, the state of New Mexico committed to purchasing the railroad corridor from Belen to the New Mexico-Colorado border from BNSF (although, thus far only the portion between Belen and Lamy, NM has been purchased), to ensure that commuter trains would always get the right-of-way and have priority over freight trains in the corridor. While the engines are capable of , the track limits the maximum speed to .
The Rail Runner officially went into service on July 14, 2006, serving the Downtown Albuquerque, Los Ranchos, and Sandoval County stations. On December 11, 2006, the Los Lunas station opened, and on February 2, 2007, the Belen station opened, extending the line to its southern end. In April 2007, two more stations opened: Bernalillo County/International Sunport on the 20th and Downtown Bernalillo on the 27th. On December 17, 2008, the Isleta Pueblo station opened.
Phase II
Phase II, the extension of the line to Santa Fe, opened for service on December 17, 2008. Using the existing
Santa Fe Southern Railway
The Santa Fe Southern Railway is a short line railroad in New Mexico, United States. In addition to carrying freight on occasion, it also operates as a tourist railroad called Sky Railway that carries passengers between Lamy and Santa Fe: a ...
track from Lamy to Santa Fe, which is filled with sharp curves, would have required the train to slow to 15 miles per hour (24 km/h) in some places, so new tracks were laid to allow travel times comparable to the automobile. The route uses previously existing track from Bernalillo to the base of La Bajada, a hill south of Santa Fe. It then runs on newly built track on a new
right-of-way
Right of way is the legal right, established by grant from a landowner or long usage (i.e. by prescription), to pass along a specific route through property belonging to another.
A similar ''right of access'' also exists on land held by a gov ...
from CP Madrid, for five miles and then in the I-25
median into Santa Fe, at CP Hondo, where it uses an improved Santa Fe Southern Railway track from I-25 to the terminal at the Santa Fe Railyard. Two of the planned stations for the Phase II extension opened on December 17: the South Capitol and the Santa Fe Depot stations. A third station at the NM 599/I-25 interchange in Santa Fe County opened on August 1, 2009.
After the opening of the Phase II stations, several more stations opened.
Sandia Pueblo
Sandia Pueblo (; Tiwa: Tuf Shur Tia) is a federally recognized tribe of Native American Pueblo people inhabiting a reservation of the same name in the eastern Rio Grande Rift of central New Mexico. It is one of 19 of New Mexico's Native Americ ...
station, serving
Sandia Pueblo
Sandia Pueblo (; Tiwa: Tuf Shur Tia) is a federally recognized tribe of Native American Pueblo people inhabiting a reservation of the same name in the eastern Rio Grande Rift of central New Mexico. It is one of 19 of New Mexico's Native Americ ...
, opened on August 29, 2011. The last planned station in Bernalillo County, the
Montaño station, officially opened on April 7, 2014.
Kewa Pueblo
Kewa Pueblo ( Eastern Keres , Keres: ''Díiwʾi'', Navajo: ''Tó Hájiiloh'') is a federally-recognized tribe of Native American Pueblo people in northern New Mexico, in Sandoval County southwest of Santa Fe. The pueblo is recorded as the Santo ...
station, serving
Santo Domingo Pueblo
Kewa Pueblo ( Eastern Keres , Keres: ''Díiwʾi'', Navajo: ''Tó Hájiiloh'') is a federally-recognized tribe of Native American Pueblo people in northern New Mexico, in Sandoval County southwest of Santa Fe. The pueblo is recorded as the Santo ...
, opened on March 22, 2010. It is the first station beyond the original 13 planned stations to reach the construction stage and was built using
stimulus
A stimulus is something that causes a physiological response. It may refer to:
*Stimulation
**Stimulus (physiology), something external that influences an activity
**Stimulus (psychology), a concept in behaviorism and perception
*Stimulus (economi ...
funds. On September 12, 2009, a special events platform opened for
Lobo games service only.
At the end of March in 2014, the Rail Runner added security officers to the system. Officers are charged with protecting the trains, inspecting fares, and addressing issues at the stations and parking lots. They are required to wear and use
lapel
Lapels ( ) are the folded flaps of cloth on the front of a jacket or coat (clothing), coat below the collar and are most commonly found on formal clothing and suit (clothes), suit jackets. Usually they are formed by folding over the front edges o ...
cameras during incidents.
Construction of the platform at the
Zia Road station, the last of the four planned stations for Phase II, was completed several years in advance of the station's opening in April 2017.
COVID-19 pandemic
Rail Runner service was suspended from March 2020 until March 2021 due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
. During the suspension, Rio Metro continued to run empty trains along the route in order to maintain readiness of the vehicles and crew. Weekday service resumed March 8, 2021, and full service resumed May 24, 2021.
By April 2022, daily ridership had returned to 60% of pre-pandemic levels. To attract new riders, Rio Metro announced it would slash fares by 75%—daily passes priced at $2.50 and monthly passes at $27.50—from April 18 through July 31. During this period, average ridership increased about 88% to over 1,500 boardings per day. Citing the
high cost of gas, Governor
Michelle Lujan Grisham
Michelle Lynn Lujan Grisham (; born October 24, 1959) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the List of governors of New Mexico, 32nd governor of New Mexico since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...
announced in July that the reduced fares would be extended until the end of 2022. In addition, two round trips will be added on August 1st as part of a revised schedule focused on all-day frequency rather than traditional commuter service.
Criticism
The cost of the Rail Runner system was $135 million for the first phase and around $250 million for the second phase.
Preliminary estimates indicated that the service would operate at a
deficit, requiring up to $10 million in government funding annually. In late 2007, the Rail Runner was the subject of more criticism as a transportation funding shortfall left many state road projects stalled. State officials said the rising cost of construction materials and decreased federal support were the cause, but some lawmakers cited the cost of the Rail Runner as a contributing factor for the shortfall. Supporters of Rail Runner funding note that roadways and other infrastructure for passenger cars also operate at a deficit, requiring government funding for construction, operation, and maintenance.
Funding
The capital costs of the Rail Runner project were covered by state and local funds. Funding for operations of the system in its first few years was covered largely by federal
Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement (CMAQ) Program funds, along with ticket revenues and some state and local funds. Operational costs were expected to rise from $10 million for the first phase to $20 million after completion of the second phase.
Federal funding for the Rail Runner was expected to stop in 2009. Two separate
gross receipts taxes for regional transit were approved by voters in central and north-central New Mexico in November 2008 to cover a large portion of the operational funds of the Rail Runner. Additional funds also come from bond revenue and money appropriated by the New Mexico State Legislature.
Proposed expansion
The Environmental Assessment for Phase II considered placement of a station between Cerrillos Road and Richards Avenue in the I-25 median; it concluded that there was not yet enough demand, but recommended that it be considered for the future. A station near the Las Soleras development was studied in 2010.
An extension northward to
Taos
Taos or TAOS may refer to:
Places
* Taos, Missouri, a city in Cole County, Missouri, United States
* Taos County, New Mexico, United States
** Taos, New Mexico, a city, the county seat of Taos County, New Mexico
*** Taos art colony, an art colo ...
was proposed in the state legislature in 2009. An extension south to
Las Cruces and
El Paso
El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the seat of El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the 23rd-largest city in the U.S., the s ...
has also been proposed. A memorandum to study the feasibility of such service was introduced in the state legislature in 2009, and was amended to study Las Cruces-El Paso service, but failed to pass in the New Mexico Legislature. A federal
house resolution was introduced by Congressman Harry Teague in May 2009 to study the concept, but did not get out of committee.
Ridership
On service between Albuquerque and Bernalillo, fares were initially free to attract ridership. On its first day of service, the Rail Runner carried 4,122 passengers. During the initial free period, ridership averaged 4,000 to 4,500 riders per day with a one-day peak of 6,000 riders. Ridership gradually declined during the weeks of free service. Ridership averaged 2,500 to 3,000 riders per day in August 2006, and 2,100 to 2,500 riders per day in September 2006.
In November 2006, free service ended on the line's Sandoval section, and ridership fell to 1,000 passengers per day. When the Los Lunas and Belen stations opened with free service, ridership rose to around 1,800 passengers per day. Free service on the Belen section of the line ended April 1, 2007, and a new zone fare structure went into effect. During the summer of 2007, ridership averaged 2,500 passengers per day. By April 2008, weekly ridership was 9,600.
On December 17, 2008, service to
Santa Fe started with a three-month period of free service for Santa Fe County residents and three weekends of free service for the whole system. The original 2005 projected ridership for a slightly different (but similar speed) Phase II route to Santa Fe was 2,954 daily riders. During the first full week of train service between the two cities, more than 33,000 passengers boarded. On the second Saturday of service to Santa Fe, nearly 12,000 people boarded trains between
Belen and Santa Fe. Weekend service, which was to be discontinued after the first three weekends of service to Santa Fe, was instead partly retained, with permanent Saturday service. Ridership for the first few weeks of Santa Fe service averaged about 5,000 riders per day, then dropped to an average of around 4,000 riders per day for the month of January 2009.
For four months in 2009, Rail Runner operated game-day trains to sporting events to
Lobo Special Events Platform station
The Lobo Special Events Platform is an inactive limited use platform on the New Mexico Rail Runner Express commuter rail line. MRCOG created the station in 2009 at a cost of $1 million (equivalent to $ million in ), split between MRCOG and The Un ...
. After a cumulative total of 227 passengers made use of Lobo, the game-day train service was discontinued and the station abandoned.
Ridership continued to increase through 2010, reaching a peak of 1.24 million passengers annually (4,000 on an average weekday). Since then, passenger numbers have continued to decline year-over-year to a low of under 750,000 in 2019.
Government analysts blamed the drop in ridership on low gas prices, infrequent service, and long travel times, and recommended that the state focus on making the service more competitive with car travel. It was also suggested that service to the
Downtown Bernalillo station be reduced or eliminated due to low ridership.
Service
Normal weekday service has eleven round trips: four Santa Fe–Belen round trips (one express), four Albuquerque–Belen round trips, and three Santa Fe–Albuquerque round trips. Saturday service has five northbound trips (four Belen–Santa Fe and one Belen–Albuquerque) and six southbound trips (three Santa Fe–Belen, two Albuquerque–Belen, and one Santa Fe–Albuquerque). Sunday service has three northbound trips (all Belen–Santa Fe) and four southbound trips (two Santa Fe–Belen, one Albuquerque–Belen, and one Santa Fe–Albuquerque). Additional service is provided for some events like the New Mexico Wine Festival; connecting bus shuttles run for the
Balloon Fiesta. The cost of Rail Runner tickets is distance-based, with six fare zones.
Route
The Rail Runner operates on a north–south corridor, which parallels
Interstate 25. The southern from Belen through Albuquerque to CP Rael (northwest of
Los Cerrillos) was formerly the
BNSF
BNSF Railway is one of the largest freight railroads in North America. One of seven North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 35,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and nearly 8,000 locomotives. It has three transcontinental routes that ...
Glorieta Subdivision and is shared with BNSF freight trains. The from CP Rael to CP Blewett (south of Santa Fe) largely runs in the median of Interstate 25. The northern into downtown Santa Fe is shared with the
Santa Fe Southern Railway
The Santa Fe Southern Railway is a short line railroad in New Mexico, United States. In addition to carrying freight on occasion, it also operates as a tourist railroad called Sky Railway that carries passengers between Lamy and Santa Fe: a ...
.
Rail Runner has 15 active stations: ten in the Albuquerque metro area, two serving
Kewa Pueblo
Kewa Pueblo ( Eastern Keres , Keres: ''Díiwʾi'', Navajo: ''Tó Hájiiloh'') is a federally-recognized tribe of Native American Pueblo people in northern New Mexico, in Sandoval County southwest of Santa Fe. The pueblo is recorded as the Santo ...
and rural areas of Santa Fe County, and three in Santa Fe. All have single
side platform
A side platform (also known as a marginal platform or a single-face platform) is a platform positioned to the side of one or more railway tracks or guideways at a railway station, tram stop, or transitway. A station having dual side platform ...
s 260 feet (3 cars) to 500 feet long except for South Capitol (which has two side platforms) and Downtown Albuquerque (which has longer
island platform
An island platform (also center platform, centre platform) is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway interchange. Island platforms are popular on ...
s for the
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada ...
''
Southwest Chief
The ''Southwest Chief'' (formerly the ''Southwest Limited'' and ''Super Chief'') is a passenger train operated by Amtrak on a route between Chicago and Los Angeles through the Midwest and Southwest via Kansas City, Albuquerque, and Flagsta ...
''). An additional station,
Lobo Special Events Platform station
The Lobo Special Events Platform is an inactive limited use platform on the New Mexico Rail Runner Express commuter rail line. MRCOG created the station in 2009 at a cost of $1 million (equivalent to $ million in ), split between MRCOG and The Un ...
, is unused.
Bus connections
Most stations have bus connections, including
NMDOT Park and Ride
NMDOT Park and Ride is the name given to a network of intercity buses in New Mexico and Texas, operated by the New Mexico Department of Transportation. The network is composed of eleven routes, including eight intercity routes and three local shut ...
shuttles (at Downtown Albuquerque, NM 599, and South Capitol),
ABQRide at four stations (including
Albuquerque Rapid Transit
Albuquerque Rapid Transit, also known as ART, is a bus rapid transit (BRT) system serving the Central Avenue corridor in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. There are two lines running between Tramway Boulevard ( NM 556), the Central and Un ...
at Downtown Albuquerque), and
Santa Fe Trails at the two Santa Fe stations. There are also a number of smaller shuttle services serving the Rail Runner: a shuttle to
Socorro and through Belen serves the Belen station, Los Lunas Public Transportation serves the Los Lunas station, the Sandoval Easy Express serves the two stations in Bernalillo, the
University of New Mexico
The University of New Mexico (UNM; es, Universidad de Nuevo México) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Founded in 1889, it is the state's flagship academic institution and the largest by enrollment, with over 25,400 ...
has a dedicated shuttle connecting its main campus to the Downtown Albuquerque station, a shuttle to
Taos
Taos or TAOS may refer to:
Places
* Taos, Missouri, a city in Cole County, Missouri, United States
* Taos County, New Mexico, United States
** Taos, New Mexico, a city, the county seat of Taos County, New Mexico
*** Taos art colony, an art colo ...
serves the Santa Fe Depot and South Capitol stations, and
Santa Ana Pueblo
Santa Ana Pueblo ( Eastern Keres: Tamaya ʰɑmɑjːɑ is a census-designated place (CDP) in Sandoval County, New Mexico, United States. As of the 2000 census, the CDP had a total population of 479. It is part of the Albuquerque Metropolitan Sta ...
,
Isleta Pueblo
Pueblo of Isleta ( tix, Shiewhibak , kjq, Dîiw'a'ane ; nv, Naatoohó ) is an unincorporated community and Tanoan pueblo in Bernalillo County, New Mexico, United States, originally established in the . The Southern Tiwa name of the pueblo ...
, and
Pojoaque Pueblo each operate shuttles connecting their casinos to the nearest Rail Runner station.
Rolling stock
The Rail Runner power includes nine
MotivePower
MotivePower, Inc. (MPI) is an American manufacturer of diesel-electric locomotives. The company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Wabtec, and traces its history back to the MK Rail division of Morrison-Knudsen.
History
Morrison-Knudsen establ ...
MPI MP36PH-3C diesel-electric
locomotives, thirteen
Bombardier BiLevel Coach
The Bombardier BiLevel Coach is a bilevel passenger railcar currently built by Alstom and previously by Bombardier, Hawker Siddeley Canada, the Canadian Car and Foundry (Can Car), and the UTDC. Used by North American commuter rail operators ...
es and nine Bombardier BiLevel
Cab cars. Coach cars have a seating capacity of 151 passengers while cab cars have a seating capacity of 141 passengers, The livery of the New Mexico Rail Runner depicts a stylistic roadrunner on the locomotive and trailing tailfeathers on the coaches. The "door closing" tones resemble the signature “Beep-Beep” of the Warner Bros.
Road Runner cartoon character.
Trains operate in a
push-pull configuration, with the locomotive always facing south. When not in use, the vehicles are stored in a rail yard in downtown Albuquerque near the
Alvarado Transportation Center
The Alvarado Transportation Center (ATC) is a multimodal transit hub located at 100 1st Street SW in Downtown Albuquerque, New Mexico. The complex was built as a hub for Albuquerque's regional transit system and as a replacement for Albuquerque's ...
.
References
External links
Rio Metro (Rail Runner) – official homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rail Runner Express
2006 establishments in New Mexico
Transportation in Albuquerque, New Mexico
New Mexico railroads
Passenger rail transportation in New Mexico
Commuter rail in the United States
Railway companies established in 2006
Standard gauge railways in the United States
Railway lines in highway medians