Does the Rail Runner Express Go to Art Shows in New Mexico

Commuter rail system in key New Mexico, United states of america

New Mexico Rail Runner Limited
New Mexico Runway Runner Express at La Bajada Hill
Overview
Owner	NMDOT
Locale	Albuquerque, New Mexico (metropolitan expanse)
Termini	Santa Fe Belen
Stations	xv
Website	Rio Metro
Service
Type	Commuter rails
Operator(southward)	Rio Metro,[1] Herzog Transit Services Inc.
Daily ridership	ii,983 (weekday ridership) (2016)[ii]
History
Opened	July xiv, 2006
Technical
Line length	97 miles (156 km)
Number of tracks	1–2
Track judge	4 ft8+ 1⁄2  in (1,435 mm)
Operating speed	79 miles per 60 minutes (127 km/h) maximum[three]
Road diagram Legend Santa Iron Depot South Capitol Zia Road Fare Zone F Fare Zone Due east Santa Fe Southern Railway to Lamy I-25 Santa Fe County/NM 599 I-25 Fare Zone E Fare Zone D Amtrak Southwest Chief to Chicago I-25 Kewa Pueblo Fare Zone D Fare Zone C Sandoval County/Us 550 Downtown Bernalillo Fare Zone C Fare Zone B Sandia Pueblo Los Ranchos/​Journal Heart Montaño I-twoscore Downtown Albuquerque Lobo Special Events Platform Bernalillo County/​International Sunport I-25 Isleta Pueblo Fare Zone B Fare Zone A Rio Grande Amtrak Southwest Chief to Los Angeles Los Lunas Belen All stations are accessible Sources[4] [5] This diagram: view talk edit

The New Mexico Rail Runner Limited (AAR reporting mark NMRX) is a commuter rail system serving the metropolitan areas of Albuquerque and Santa Fe, New Mexico. It is administered by the New Mexico Department of Transportation (NMDOT) and the Rio Metro Regional Transit District (Rio Metro), a regional transportation agency, while Herzog Transit Services currently^{[ when? ]} holds the contract for the functioning and maintenance of the line & equipment. Phase I of the system, operating on an existing right-of-way from Belen to Bernalillo that NMDOT purchased from BNSF Railway, opened in July 2006. Phase II, the extension of the line to Santa Atomic number 26, opened in December 2008. Daily ridership, as of February 2019, was 2,200 trips per day.

Track Runner service was suspended from March 2020 until March 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. During the suspension, Rio Metro connected to run empty trains along the road in gild to maintain readiness of the vehicles and coiffure.^[6] Weekday service resumed March viii, 2021, and full service resumed May 24, 2021.

History [edit]

The concept of rider rail serving the Central New Mexico corridor had been discussed for decades, simply it wasn't until August 2003, when New United mexican states Governor Bill Richardson appear 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 passed Governor Richardson's Investment Partnership (GRIP), a transportation comeback package with the Rail Runner included equally one of the bill'southward 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 "Rails Runner" is a play on the name of New Mexico'due south state bird, the roadrunner. The cars and locomotives were received throughout the yr of 2005 and groundbreaking for the first Rail Runner station took place on October 31, 2005. During this time the country also conducted negotiations with BNSF over the utilize of the railroad runway. Later assessing the needs of the track, the state of New Mexico committed to purchasing the railroad corridor from Belen to the New United mexican states-Colorado border from BNSF (although, thus far only the portion between Belen and Lamy, NM has been purchased)^{[ citation needed ]}, 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 110 miles per hour (180 km/h), the track limits the maximum speed to 79 miles per hour (127 km/h).^[three]

The Track Runner officially went into service on July 14, 2006, serving the Downtown Albuquerque, Los Ranchos, and Sandoval County stations. On December eleven, 2006, the Los Lunas station opened, and on February ii, 2007, the Belen station opened, extending the line to its southern end. In Apr 2007, ii more than stations opened: Bernalillo County/International Sunport on the 20th and Downtown Bernalillo on the 27th. On December 17, 2008, the Isleta Pueblo station opened.^[seven]

Stage Two, the extension of the line to Santa Fe, opened for service on December 17, 2008. Using the existing Santa Fe Southern Railway track from Lamy to Santa Fe, which is filled with sharp curves, would accept 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 auto. The route uses previously existing track from Bernalillo to the base of La Bajada, a colina south of Santa Fe. It then runs on newly built track on a new correct-of-way from CP Madrid, for five miles and so in the I-25 median into Santa Fe, at CP Hondo, where it uses an improved Santa Fe Southern Railway rail from I-25 to the last at the Santa Fe Railyard.^[eight] Two of the planned stations for the Phase II extension opened on December 17: the S 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 2 stations, several more stations opened. Sandia Pueblo station, serving Sandia Pueblo, opened on August 29, 2011.^[nine] The last planned station in Bernalillo County, the Montaño station, officially opened on April 7, 2014. Kewa Pueblo station, serving Santo Domingo Pueblo, opened on March 22, 2010.^[10] It is the first station beyond the original thirteen planned stations to accomplish the structure stage and was built using stimulus funds. On September 12, 2009, a special events platform opened for Lobo games service just.^[11]

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 bug at the stations and parking lots. They are required to habiliment and use lapel cameras during incidents.^{[12] [xiii]}

Construction of the platform at the Zia Road station, the last of the four planned stations for Stage II, was completed several years in advance of the station's opening in April 2017.^[fourteen]

Criticism [edit]

The price of the Rail Runner system was $135 million for the outset phase and around $250 million for the 2nd stage.^[fifteen] Preliminary estimates indicated that the service would operate at a arrears, requiring up to $10 million in government funding annually.^[16] In late 2007, the Rails Runner was the subject of more criticism as a transportation funding shortfall left many land road projects stalled. Country officials said the rising toll of construction materials and decreased federal support were the cause, simply some lawmakers cited the price of the Rail Runner as a contributing factor for the shortfall.^[17] Supporters of Rail Runner funding note that roadways and other infrastructure for passenger cars also operate at a deficit, requiring government funding for construction, functioning, and maintenance.^[18]

Funding [edit]

The capital costs of the Runway Runner project were covered by country and local funds. Funding for operations of the arrangement in its commencement few years was covered largely by federal Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement (CMAQ) Program funds, forth with ticket revenues and some country and local funds. Operational costs were expected to ascension from $10 million for the first phase to $20 1000000 later on completion of the 2nd phase.^[19]

Federal funding for the Rail Runner was expected to end in 2009. Two split up gross receipts taxes for regional transit were canonical by voters in central and north-central New United mexican states in Nov 2008 to cover a large portion of the operational funds of the Rails Runner. Boosted funds also come up from bond revenue and coin appropriated past the New Mexico State Legislature.^[xx]

Proposed expansion [edit]

The Ecology Cess for Phase 2 considered placement of a station betwixt Cerrillos Route and Richards Artery in the I-25 median; information technology concluded that in that location was not even so enough demand, but recommended that it be considered for the futurity. A station near the Las Soleras development was studied in 2010.^[21]

An extension northward to Taos was proposed in the state legislature in 2009.^[22] An extension south to Las Cruces and El Paso has also been proposed. A memorandum to written report the feasibility of such service was introduced in the country legislature in 2009, and was amended to study Las Cruces-El Paso service, but failed to pass in the New Mexico Legislature.^[23] A federal house resolution was introduced by Congressman Harry Teague in May 2009 to study the concept, but did non become out of committee.^[24]

Ridership [edit]

Ridership figures[25]
Fiscal year	Total riders
2007	485,150
2008	541,547
2009	ane,081,719
2010	1,239,805
2011	1,219,461
2012	1,191,654
2013	i,089,358
2014	1,083,536
2015	997,299
2016	887,152
2017	835,438
2018	787,539
2019	743,600
2020	142,900

On service between Albuquerque and Bernalillo, fares were initially free to attract ridership. On its first day of service, the Runway Runner carried four,122 passengers. During the initial free period, ridership averaged 4,000 to 4,500 riders per mean solar day with a ane-day peak of half-dozen,000 riders.^[26] Ridership gradually declined during the weeks of complimentary service.^[27] Ridership averaged two,500 to 3,000 riders per day in August 2006, and ii,100 to 2,500 riders per day in September 2006.

In November 2006, free service concluded on the line's Sandoval section, and ridership fell to 1,000 passengers per twenty-four hours. When the Los Lunas and Belen stations opened with free service, ridership rose to around one,800 passengers per twenty-four hour period. Free service on the Belen department of the line ended April 1, 2007, and a new zone fare structure went into effect. During the summertime of 2007, ridership averaged 2,500 passengers per day. By April 2008, weekly ridership was nine,600.^[28]

On December 17, 2008, service to Santa Fe started with a 3-month period of free service for Santa Fe Canton residents and three weekends of costless service for the whole arrangement. The original 2005 projected ridership for a slightly different (but like speed) Phase II road to Santa Fe was ii,954 daily riders.^[29] During the first total week of train service betwixt the two cities, more than 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.^[xxx] 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.^[31] Ridership for the first few weeks of Santa Fe service averaged near 5,000 riders per twenty-four hour period, then dropped to an average of around four,000 riders per solar day for the month of January 2009.^[32]

For 4 months in 2009, Rail Runner operated game-mean solar day trains to sporting events to Lobo Special Events Platform station. After a cumulative total of 227 passengers made employ of Lobo, the game-day railroad train service was discontinued and the station abandoned.^[33]

Ridership continued to increase through 2010, reaching a peak of 1.24 1000000 passengers annually (iv,000 on an boilerplate weekday). Since then, passenger numbers take continued to turn down twelvemonth-over-year to a low of under 750,000 in 2019.^{[34] [25]} 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 auto travel. It was also suggested that service to the Downtown Bernalillo station be reduced or eliminated due to low ridership.^[35]

Service [edit]

Normal weekday service has eleven round trips: iv Santa Fe–Belen circular trips (i express), 4 Albuquerque–Belen round trips, and three Santa Fe–Albuquerque round trips. Saturday service has 5 northbound trips (four Belen–Santa Fe and one Belen–Albuquerque) and half dozen southbound trips (three Santa Iron–Belen, two Albuquerque–Belen, and one Santa Fe–Albuquerque). Sunday service has three northbound trips (all Belen–Santa Fe) and 4 southbound trips (two Santa Fe–Belen, one Albuquerque–Belen, and one Santa Iron–Albuquerque). Boosted service is provided for some events like the New Mexico Wine Festival; connecting bus shuttles run for the Balloon Fiesta.^[36] The price of Rail Runner tickets is distance-based, with six fare zones.

Route [edit]

Kewa Pueblo, a typical Rail Runner station

The Rail Runner operates on a 96.5-mile (155.3 km) n–south corridor, which parallels Interstate 25. The southern 74.2 miles (119.4 km) from Belen through Albuquerque to CP Rael (northwest of Los Cerrillos) was formerly the BNSF Glorieta Subdivision and is shared with BNSF freight trains. The 17.9 miles (28.8 km) from CP Rael to CP Blewett (south of Santa Fe) largely runs in the median of Interstate 25. The northern 4.four miles (7.1 km) into downtown Santa Atomic number 26 is shared with the Santa Fe Southern Railway.^[37]

Rails Runner has xv agile stations: ten in the Albuquerque metro surface area, ii serving Kewa Pueblo and rural areas of Santa Atomic number 26 County, and 3 in Santa Fe. All have single side platforms 260 feet (iii cars) to 500 anxiety long except for Due south Capitol (which has two side platforms) and Downtown Albuquerque (which has longer island platforms for the Amtrak Southwest Chief). An additional station, Lobo Special Events Platform station, is unused.

Bus connections [edit]

Nigh stations take bus connections, including NMDOT Park and Ride shuttles (at Downtown Albuquerque, NM 599, and Southward Capitol), ABQRide at four stations (including Albuquerque Rapid Transit at Downtown Albuquerque), and Santa Fe Trails at the ii Santa Fe stations. In that location are likewise a number of smaller shuttle services serving the Track Runner: a shuttle to Socorro and through Belen serves the Belen station, Los Lunas Public Transportation serves the Los Lunas station, the Sandoval Easy Limited serves the 2 stations in Bernalillo, the University of New Mexico has a dedicated shuttle connecting its master campus to the Downtown Albuquerque station, a shuttle to Taos serves the Santa Iron Depot and South Capitol stations, and Santa Ana Pueblo, Isleta Pueblo, and Pojoaque Pueblo each operate shuttles connecting their casinos to the nearest Rails Runner station.

Rolling stock [edit]

A Runway Runner trainset in 2008

The Track Runner ability includes ix MotivePower MPI MP36PH-3C diesel-electric locomotives, thirteen Bombardier BiLevel Coaches and nine Bombardier BiLevel Cab cars. Double-decker cars have a seating capacity of 151 passengers while cab cars accept a seating capacity of 141 passengers,^{[38] [39]} 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 graphic symbol.^[40] Trains operate in a push-pull configuration, with the locomotive always facing south. When not in utilise, the vehicles are stored in a rail yard in downtown Albuquerque well-nigh the Alvarado Transportation Center.

Manufacturer	Model	Inventory	Numbers
MotivePower	MPI MP36PH-3C diesel-electric locomotive	ix	101-109
Bombardier Transportation	Bombardier BiLevel Coach	13	1001–1013
Bombardier Transportation	Bombardier BiLevel Cab cars	9	1101–1109

References [edit]

1. ^ "News Release on Rail Runner website". Archived from the original on Nov 27, 2010. Retrieved September 12, 2009.
2. ^ Transit and Runway Division (PDF) (Report). New Mexico Department of Transportation. January 2017. p. 13.
3. ^ ^{a b} "Rail Runner Express Gets Rollin' for the First Time on Trial Trip". The Albuquerque Journal. April 19, 2006. Retrieved April 25, 2009.
4. ^ "Stations". New Mexico Track Runner. Retrieved March 18, 2008.
5. ^ "Santa Fe Fares & Zones" (PDF). New Mexico Track Runner. Retrieved Dec 3, 2008.
6. ^ Wyland, Scott (July 13, 2020). "Runway Runner will ride again — eventually". Santa Fe New Mexican . Retrieved August 8, 2020.
7. ^ "Commuter Rail Condition Written report: "Belen to Santa Iron Commuter Rail Overview"". Archived from the original on August eight, 2007. Retrieved November nineteen, 2006.
8. ^ ""Runway Runner Route to Santa Fe" page on Rails Runner website". Archived from the original on May 13, 2008. Retrieved May 18, 2008.
9. ^ "Sandia Pueblo Track Runner Cease Opens". Retrieved October v, 2011.
10. ^ "NM Rail Runner opening new station". Retrieved March 22, 2010. ^{[ permanent expressionless link ]}
11. ^ "New Mexico Rails Runner Express Completes Lobo Special Events Platform". UNM Today. Archived from the original on August 12, 2010. Retrieved September 12, 2009.
12. ^ "Security Officers on the Rail Runner". Archived from the original on April 22, 2014. Retrieved Apr 21, 2014.
13. ^ "Rail Runner security boosted". Albuquerque Journal. Retrieved April 21, 2014.
14. ^ "Zia Road Station". New Mexico Rail Runner. Archived from the original on December 3, 2008. Retrieved Dec 4, 2008.
15. ^ "Funding". New Mexico Runway Runner. Archived from the original on May thirteen, 2008. Retrieved June ii, 2008.
16. ^ "Railroad train Debate Ignores I-25 Funding Needs". Albuquerque Journal. Retrieved Nov 18, 2006.
17. ^ "Lack of funds has N.Grand. road projects on agree". Albuquerque Tribune. Archived from the original on December 13, 2007. Retrieved December 8, 2007.
18. ^ "Why low-cal rails makes sense". Socorro News. Archived from the original on August 28, 2008. Retrieved January 21, 2008.
19. ^ "A referendum on the Rail Runner". New United mexican states Independent. Retrieved September 2, 2008.
20. ^ "Transit revenue enhancement passes in seven New United mexican states counties". MSN Money. Archived from the original on March 8, 2007. Retrieved November 5, 2008.
21. ^ "Proposed Rail Runner Station at Las Soleras" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on November 27, 2010. Retrieved June 2, 2010.
22. ^ "Business firm Joint Memorial 22". New Mexico Legislature.
23. ^ "House Articulation Memorial 26". New Mexico Legislature.
24. ^ "H.R. 2337: Southwestern Transit Corridor Planning and Fuel Use Reduction Human activity".
25. ^ ^{a b} "Transit and Track Division Fact Sheet" (PDF). New United mexican states Department of Transportation. February 2019. Retrieved March 10, 2019.
26. ^ "Story: Stats don't faze train managers". Albuquerque Tribune. Archived from the original on September 29, 2007. Retrieved November eighteen, 2006.
27. ^ "Fewer people are riding the Rail Runner for fun". Albuquerque Tribune. Archived from the original on November 30, 2006. Retrieved November 18, 2006.
28. ^ "Gas Prices Increase Track Runner Ridership". KKOB News Radio. Archived from the original on May 25, 2011. Retrieved April xxx, 2008.
29. ^ "(2005) Alternatives Analysis Executive Summary". Archived from the original on Feb iv, 2009. Retrieved April 22, 2009.
30. ^ Grimm, Julie Ann (December 29, 2008). "Rail Runner planners mull parking expansion". Santa Fe New Mexican. Archived from the original on February 17, 2012.
31. ^ Grimm, Julie Ann (January 7, 2009). "Rail Runner to proceed rolling on Saturdays". Santa Atomic number 26 New Mexican. Archived from the original on February 17, 2012.
32. ^ "Rail Runner Ridership Downward". Albuquerque Journal. Retrieved January 27, 2009.
33. ^ "No Plans to Reopen Abandoned $800K Commuter Train Stop". U.S. News & Globe Report. February 16, 2019.
34. ^ "Public Transportation Ridership Report" (PDF). American Public Transportation Association. 2019. Archived from the original on May 23, 2020.
35. ^ McKay, Dan (January 14, 2019). "Railroad train ridership continues to fall in New United mexican states". Albuquerque Journal . Retrieved March 10, 2019.
36. ^ "Rail Runner for Balloon Fiesta Weekends". KRQE. Archived from the original on December 11, 2013. Retrieved Dec half dozen, 2013.
37. ^ New Mexico Rail Runner New Mexico Partition Employee Timetable No. one (PDF). New Mexico Rail Runner Express. December half dozen, 2008. pp. 4, 10.
38. ^ "Car Specifications on Rail Runner website". Archived from the original on July 26, 2011. Retrieved December 19, 2009.
39. ^ "Train Equipment page on Rail Runner website". Archived from the original on Feb eighteen, 2008. Retrieved February ii, 2008.
40. ^ MacNeil, Sara (September 19, 2017). "Circumspection: Do Not Surf on Tracks". Santa Atomic number 26 Reporter.

External links [edit]

Route map:

KML is from Wikidata

Media related to New Mexico Rail Runner Express at Wikimedia Commons

• Rio Metro (Track Runner) – official homepage

carringtonbliter.blogspot.com

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Mexico_Rail_Runner_Express

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