Posted on 02/15/2007 7:46:02 AM PST by CedarDave
State Transportation Secretary Rhonda Faught announced Wednesday that a route along the Interstate I-25 median will be used to bring the New Mexico Rail Runner Express commuter train from Bernalillo to Santa Fe.
The state, along with Santa Fe city and county officials, had been considering two routes to bring the train from the base of La Bajada to Santa Fe. In addition to the I-25 median route, an alignment that would have cut through the Santa Fe Community College district also was being considered.
Faught said the I-25 route will have the least impact on communities while serving a majority of the residents in and around the Santa Fe area. "This route was selected after extensive public comment and community input," Faught said.
She said the DOT "will work closely with city, county and planning officials on identifying train stations along the I-25 corridor as we move forward on this project."
~~ snip ~~
Lawrence Rael, director of the Mid-Region Council of Governments, said the state's goal is to have the train running from Albuquerque to Santa Fe by the end of 2008. "There is a bunch of work left to do," Rael said.... Construction is expected to start in late summer, according to transportation spokesman S.U. Mahesh.
... The train averages 1,800 riders per day, according to transportation officials.
Daily roundtrip fares are $3; one-way fares are $2. There are reduced fares for seniors, students and disabled people. Eventually, fares will be based on the number of zones the passenger travels through.
The $393 million Rail Runner project began running between Albuquerque and Bernalillo in July. The commuter train is expected to cost $10 million per year to operate. Faught has said a $75 million federal grant for the train has been stalled in Congress.
(Excerpt) Read more at abqjournal.com ...
Now that a route has been chosen, permits will be required and environmental impacts deteremined. Of course, since it's Richardson's Railroad, they don't need no frickin' permits - no one to stop them (if it was a private entity, the enviro-wackos would come out of the woodwork to stop the destruction of the lava cliffs as they did to stop Paseo del Norte for ten years in ABQ). And, of course, building in the 75 mph interstate medium, the few passengers will see cars zip by.
With the feds unlikely to come up with the $75 million the state expected, that means more money comes out of the state road fund and more neglected highways here in the oil patch, which provides the gold that pays for a good part of what the state spends.
And this project is run by the NMDOT. The same agency that once again can't get road condition information to the public when we have a winter storm (State's Road Hot Line, Web Site Offer No Help ). Good luck on them running the railroad, folks.
Is this part of the line that goes through the Imus Ranch?
Look at the true costs and you can easily see it makes no economic sense and very little environmental sense. But it makes a lot of political sense for the Gov, the Dims and the brainwashed sheeple.
LOL. Not that line, but the state bought the BNSF line from ABQ to the CO state line that skirts the ranch (may go through parts, but I don't know the boundaries).
See my #3.
That reminds me of my next to favorite campaign '04 moment when Imus brought his campers to the train crossing to cheer on Kerry who was supposed have the train slow down and wave, instead he blew through at 85mph pissing off Imus.
Ping
toot toot
Some more on Paseo del Norte. Those cliffs contain petroglyphs and were made a national monument some years ago. However, as a condition of approval, Congress authorized construction of the highway through the monument after affected petroglyphs were moved and relocated. Lawsuits, delays, etc. brought by the enviros and some Native Americans threatened to forever delay the project. However, it took a Democratic mayor, who saw that the residents were getting fed up with traffic congestion, to say screw the enviros and got the road built. The point is that when the Rats want something done, their prized environmental rules go out the window.
BTW, there are petroglyphs on La Bajada too. Santa Fe County, Historical Landmarks and Attractions, La Bajada Hill
Thanks, greyfoxx
If I Only Had ...
... a Train
I could while away the hours
Conferrin' with the flowers
Consultin' with the rain
And my head, I'd be scratchin'
While my thoughts were busy hatchin'
If I only had a train.
I'd unravel ev'ry riddle
For any individ'le
In trouble or in pain
With the thoughts you'd be thinkin'
You could be another Lincoln,
If you only had a train.
Oh, I could tell you why
The ocean's near the shore,
I could think of things I never thunk before
And then I'd sit and think some more.
I would not be just a nuffin'
My head all full of stuffin'
My heart all full of pain.
I would dance and I'd be merry.
Life would be a ding-a-derry
If I only had a train--Whoa!
That's great, LOL...your own composition?
If they go with the I-25 median route, will the train be able to go up La Bajada hill? That's a pretty mean grade. IIRC I read in an earlier article that the locomotives being used aren't all that powerful.
I need to amend my response somewhat. The new RR line to Santa Fe branches off the same line that goes by the Imus Ranch. However it departs from the existing line some 40-50 miles or so to the west of the ranch near the base of La Bajada hill. Engineering-wise I don't see how they are going to climb that grade with out a long winding uphill route and certainly not at 79 mph (the maximum speed for passenger trains).
What NM really needs is more construction activity in the median of I-25, slowing the traffic by closing 2 of the 4 lanes, and you KNOW those damn orange barrels will replicate themselves exponentially...what fun!
It is a mean grade. That is my question in #14. The route on the maps I've seen show it going east of I-25 a mile or so and then going up in an area where the cliffs are 500 ft. instead of close to 1,000 ft. But I still don't know how they will do that unless they have a very long cut and fill grade over some distance. Definitely an engineering challenge. Once on top the RR will curve back northwest to connect with the highway.
Ther must be a reason the Santa Fe railroad never went to Santa Fe
Here is link to a map and aerial photograph of the site. You can clearly see the cliffs we are talking about.
http://terraserver.microsoft.com/image.aspx?T=1&S=14&Z=13&X=122&Y=1227&W=1
Well, it eventually did, of course, but via that winding, slow branch line now known as the Santa Fe Southern. Of course the Denver and Rio Grande made it there too, via narrow guage down from the San Luis Valley of Colorado. But the line, which passed at the foot of Los Alamos, was torn up just before the start of WW-II. What's left of the lines are the Durango and Silverton, and Cumbres & Toltec Scenic narrow guage steam engine tourist lines.
Better triple that rate since NM is rife with corruption.
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