Rail Runner on track in Santa Fe
Santa Fe -- Gov. Bill Richardson and assorted dignitaries grabbed their ceremonial shovels in Santa Fe on Wednesday and “broke ground” on the final construction phase for the New Mexico Rail Runner Express.
The $400 million commuter rail line, already running from Belen to Albuquerque and Bernalillo, is on schedule to head north to the City Different by the end of the year, state Transportation Secretary Rhonda Faught said Wednesday. Transportation officials are still working on fares, but Santa Feans can expect to pay between $6 and $8 for a roundtrip ride to Albuquerque, said Lawrence Rael, executive director for the Mid-Region Council of Governments.
Construction on the northern line, which requires 22 miles of new or reconstructed track, has been underway in the Interstate 25 median for months. Three Santa Fe area stops are slated for construction, including a station at I-25 and N.M. 599, another near the state’s South Capitol Complex on Alta Vista and a final stop in Santa Fe’s Railyard district. A fourth station may be built at Zia and St. Francis drive.
Past funding controversies and Wednesday’s dog-and-Rail Runner show notwithstanding, the train is generating some excitement in the City Different, where gas is hovering at about $3.50 per gallon. That was a central talking point for Richardson and other Rail Runner supporters at Wednesday’s news conference, as you’ll see in the video above. The event was held in Santa Fe’s downtown Railyard development, a new commercial and residential construction project that’s also scheduled for completion later this year.
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