State Ends Up With 200 Miles of Track It Can't Use (NM-Richardson's Railroad)

The Albuquerque Journal ^ | December 5, 2010 | Colleen Heild

[CedarDave]

Just as state officials grapple with a huge budget shortfall, here comes a multimillion-dollar bill for 200 miles of railroad track the state of New Mexico has no plans to use.

Records show that the state Transportation Commission voted in August to set aside $2 million in next year's budget for capital improvements along the stretch of train track from Lamy to the Colorado border.

That's on top of the $5 million the state promised to pay BNSF Railway Co. to purchase that same stretch of track. State Department of Transportation spokeswoman Megan Arredondo told the Journal that the additional $2 million would pay for major capital and replacement projects on the route — which is now used only by Amtrak since BNSF discontinued freight service on the stretch.

A "definitive" funding source for the $2 million has yet to be identified, she said, adding that no general fund revenue would be used. The state general fund has a projected $400 million shortfall next year.

The agenda for the state Transportation Commission's August meeting said the $2 million would come from the state road fund, which is derived from taxes on gasoline and diesel fuel, vehicle registration fees and weight distance taxes paid by truckers.

That fund is used to repair roads and highways and for state transportation projects and operations. [emphasis mine] The road fund has also seen a drop in revenue in recent years.

In addition to capital issues, the state is expecting to pay at least some of the maintenance costs on the 200-mile stretch.

"As part of the contemplated NMDOT agreements with BNSF and Amtrak, NMDOT will need to maintain the railroad to allow safe train operation at current speeds," Arredondo said.

[zeugma]

The operable word is "was." JimRob didn't ban him but told him to shut up about passenger rail or he would be zotted. His account still shows active.

LOL. Didn't know that. Some of the threads were at least marginally inforamative. It was always interesting to see the huge number of folks who disagree with subsidized rail (myself included) on the threads.

[Slings and Arrows]

In NM, they do all that while embracing the expansion of the empire.

Jabba didn't seem to lose much business while Palpatine was in power.

[Slings and Arrows]

CougarGA7’s name for the New Mexico Spaceport was Los Isley...

Sweet!

[Rogle]

Thanks Slim I spent a tour up at the Roundhouse!

[CougarGA7]

If you ever go to the area that was planned for the space port, it actually looks a lot like Tatooine so it definitely is an appropriate name.

[Tijeras_Slim]

So you probably agree it looks like the bar scene. We’ll regard you as Obi Wan.

[Slings and Arrows]

I’m going to keep using it, just on the off chance that it sticks.

[no-s]

"Los Isley"

If you ever go to the area that was planned for the space port, it actually looks a lot like Tatooine so it definitely is an appropriate name.

Heheheh. I nominate Richardson to play Jefe El Hutt.

I actually like the area around there, there's some nice open ranch land and it's pretty flying country. Too bad New Mexico is running a huge deficit, the spaceport is still a boondoggle, and Los Isley has to make do with county slush funds aka gross receipts tax...

[CougarGA7]

Not to be anal....well, maybe a little. I was spelling it Los Eisley. All the Star Wars Tatooine location start with an ‘e’ (Mos Eisley, Mos Espa, ect).

I will now remove my Star Wars geek hat and return you to your scheduled program all ready in progress.