MRCOG

New Mexico Rail Runner Express
Overview
Type	Commuter rail
Status	Operational
Locale	Albuquerque, New Mexico (metropolitan area)
Termini	Santa Fe Belen
Stations	16 total 15 open 1 Inactive
Daily ridership	2,983 (weekday ridership) (2016)
Website	Rio Metro
Operation
Opened	July 14, 2006
Owner	NMDOT
Operator(s)	Rio Metro, Herzog Transit Services Inc.
Character	At-grade
Technical
Line length	97 miles (156 km)
Number of tracks	1–2
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Operating speed	max: 79 miles per hour (127 km/h)
Route diagram Santa Fe Depot South Capitol Zia Road Fare Zone F Fare Zone E Santa Fe Southern Railway to Lamy I-25 (southbound) Santa Fe County/NM 599 I-25 (northbound) 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 Center Montaño I-40 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 bus connections at all stations except Lobo, Los Ranchos/Journal Center, Sandia Pueblo and Zia Road. Sources This diagram: This diagram:

Sources

The New Mexico Rail Runner Express (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 currently holds the contract for the operation 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 Fe, opened in December 2008.

The concept of passenger rail serving the Central New Mexico corridor had been discussed for decades, but it wasn’t until August 2003, when New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson announced that his administration was going to pursue the implementation of commuter rail service, that a serious effort got under way. 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 improvement package with the Rail Runner included as one of the bill's projects.

Over the next few years, NMDOT and MRCOG developed a strategy for implementing the rail service. In 2005, a name and a branding scheme was chosen. The name “Rail Runner” is a play on the name of New Mexico’s state bird, the roadrunner. The cars and locomotives were received throughout the year of 2005 and groundbreaking for the first Rail Runner station took place on October 31, 2005. During this time the state also conducted negotiations with BNSF over the use of the railroad track. After assessing the needs of the track, the state of New Mexico committed to purchasing the railroad corridor from Belen to the New Mexico-Colorado border from BNSF (although, thus far only the portion between Belen and Lamy, NM has been purchased), 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).