Senator not on board with RailRunner: Carraro says transportation money could be better spent (NM)

the Rio Rancho Observer ^ | January 13, 2006 | GARY HERRON

[CedarDave]

Like many American males growing up in the 1950s, Joe Carraro loved getting a train set for Christmas.

Today, as a state senator, Carraro said he is not as happy with the RailRunner train the state of New Mexico is about to see running the rails next month.

"I understand the importance of mass transit - for a high, dense population area. I think that's where things kind of should be, where things like this make sense," he said.

But New Mexico isn't Manhattan.

It's just one of several multi-million-dollar expenditures for Gov. Bill Richardson, and Carraro, a Republican, says his objections aren't because Richardson's a Democrat.

We've got a lot of issues and responsibilities we've got to take care of, and we can't be going off expanding programs ... without taking care of our responsibilities first."

Carraro, up for re-election in 2008, said New Mexico can spend the money better in different directions, such as adding a new lane on each side of I-25 extending from Albuquerque to Santa Fe; or for education, rather than spending $100 million for a spaceport, or Richardson's junkets to NFL headquarters, trying to persuade commissioner Paul Tagliabue that New Mexico can support a pro team.

Thanks to a surplus estimated at $1 billion, mainly due to money paid to the state for oil and gas produced on state land, the Legislature will have plenty of decisions to make when it convenes Jan. 17 for a 30-day fiscal session.

"If we didn't have a surplus, if the price of gas wasn't so high, we'd be broke, dead broke," he said. "What people don't understand is that surplus was needed to pay for a lot of other programs ... We've got major problems in this state."

[CedarDave]

An excellent article, though a long read, that goes into detail on the actual costs of Richardson's railroad. I have some additional comments that I'll post below.

[CedarDave]

Carraro said it wouldn't be fair to spread RailRunner's cost across the state; people outside the Middle Rio Grande Valley will rarely, if ever, ride the train.

"The first thing you have to look at is how is our transportation system right now working?

"Have you seen the buses that go from Rio Rancho and go through Paradise Hills and go Downtown? I see them everyday and there's one person inside the bus -- that's the guy driving it ... Nobody rides the buses, so the buses should be a good indication of what happens with the train. Pretty soon, not only are you going to increase the expense of the train, but you're also going to the expenses of having a bus system. You've got to have (a bus system) if you're going to make the train work.

"This system comes about and it's not going to cost a couple-hundred million dollars, it's going to cost hundreds of millions of dollars, if not $1 billion, for this train and system around it to make it work," he concluded.

He has hit the nail on the head. This fiasco will be around long after Richardson has gone on to become Hillary's running mate, leaving the taxpayers of the state to pick up the pieces.

[sgtbono2002]

If the train starts running next month he is a little bit late in his complaints.

[CedarDave]

I posted the following comments on the article at this blog (http://www.marioburgos.com/) earlier today:

Good article by Joe Carraro. What is overlooked by everyone, including him, is that once past Santa Domingo pueblo there is no current fast way to get to Santa Fe by rail. The RR passes under I-25 at the base of La Bajada hill and turns east to Cerrillos, Galisteo and Lamy. That part of the line is still relatively fast (50-55 mph). At Lamy, the line branches to Santa Fe and winds through the subdivisions east of Santa Fe.

As a rail fan who used to live in Santa Fe, I have both ridden and "chased" trains throughout the area. The Lamy-Santa Fe portion of the line is 15 mph. I rode the last Santa Fe train out of there back in the 1990's and the line is now the Santa Fe Southern and gives tourist rides to Lamy. Yeah, you can travel it, but I expect a one-way ride from Belen would consume half a day and get you to Santa Fe just about in time for lunch.

The only viable way to run a train to Santa Fe is to build a new right of way that somehow goes up La Bajada hill (difficult given the steep grade required; even today's cars shift down in gear) and then to go through the SF subdivisions -- NIMBY's will come out of the fake pueblo style woodwork if that is proposed!

The only possible, realistic solution I forsee that could work, is to have the train terminate at La Bajada, which already has a spur and siding, and transfer passengers on shuttle buses to Santa Fe. But if you do that, why have a train at all?

It's obvious that this project is just part of Richardson's plan to groom himself for national office. It makes no sense economically given the captial costs to get a new line to Santa Fe and operational costs will rapidly eclipse the cost of building additional lanes on I-25.

75 mph on I-25 beats 15 mph by train everytime.

Dave | 01.13.06 - 10:40 am | #

[68skylark]

"What people don't understand is that surplus was needed to pay for a lot of other programs ... We've got major problems in this state."

What people don't understand is that ^#%! politicians will always find new problems that require more spending.

[CedarDave]

What's come out in the past thirty days is the actual cost of the train and whether it was even legal to purchase the RR. Check out this FR link:

State Tab For N.M. Rail Put at $320M (King Bill strikes again)^

[sgtbono2002]

It would seem Richardson pulled a fast one on them.

[CedarDave]

The legislature is completely controlled by Democrats. If a "fast one" was pulled, it was with a wink by the majority.

[CedarDave]

I just posted the ABQ Journal's investigation on the matter (as much as I could since it's paid subscription only) here:

N.M. Rail Plan Raises Questions; Track Upkeep Expenses, Fares Not Made Public

[PAR35]

It looks like they are trying to copy the Trinity Railway Express in Dallas. About the same length (40 some miles), and the equipment looks like most what the TRE is using for most of its train sets. Of course, the TRE is serving a metro area with about 4 million folks. And the TRE owns the rail lines and makes some money allowing off hours freight service.

[CedarDave]

Flew into Love Field last weekend with the flight path directly over Dallas (too low, IMO!!). It has a well developed downtown area with public transportation.

Contrast that with ABQ which has mostly government offices and/or empty old buildings downtown. Most of the office type businesses are along the interstates -- I-40 in Uptown, and now I-25 by Journal Center. I can not see a way that this is going to succeed, IMO.

As much as I am a railfan, I can not support something so ill-conceived and ultimately costly. I see this and the governor's "space-port" as becoming financial thorns in the governor's side, which I will be glad to point out to interested parties.

[PAR35]

ABQ is just not large enough to support rail.

In Dallas, the light rail, with off peak service at 20 minutes, and peak spacings at 5 minutes or less, has been sucessful (but still doesn't move as many folks as one lane on an interstate). The TRE, which ABQ is trying to emulate, runs at about 2 hour spacings, and has no Sunday service at all. It does seem to be fairly successful at rush hour for commuters, but it isn't really viable for getting between the two cities. The light rail has also proven to be a development magnet, the heavy rail has not.

As far as Dallas looking vibrant, the west side of downtown is in pretty good shape, but the east side has a number of vacant high rise buildings. Plans are fianlly moving forward on demolishing several of them and converting others to residential, but I could easily find you 3 or 4 empty buildings in the 15 - 20 story range, and could probably find you something larger if you didn't mind a few occupied floors.