The RailRunner costs taxpayers $150 per ride (and it isn’t even “green”)

With recent news coverage of the 20th anniversary of the New Mexico Rail Runner Express commuter rail train, we were asked what the actual cost of the train is to average New Mexicans. Because that cost includes both fixed (capital) costs and ongoing (operating) costs, it can be difficult to make those calculations….but we found THIS report from Rio Metro which manages the train. The report notes on page 7: The “FY2027 Rail Runner budget incorporates… $95.3 million in costs (Operations & Maintenance $47.5 million; capital (building the system amortized over time) $47.0 million; and Positive Train Control debt service (thanks to a 2008 federal mandate) $0.8 million). Once you eliminate $1.4 million and $2.8 million from the fare box and BNSF payments to Rio Metro you arrive at $91.2 million in annual costs to taxpayers. 

Given the annual ridership numbers which for 2025 were 607,295 (requested directly from Rio Metro) that works out to an eye popping $150 per RailRunner rider covered by taxpayers. 

Of course, some would claim the train is a “success” based on its supposed environmental impacts, but that’s not a route to salvation for the train either. As the Legislative Finance Committee pointed out in 2024 (and ridership has rebounded only slightly since then) “At current ridership, the Rail Runner generates more carbon dioxide than if the passengers had driven their own vehicles, and weekday ridership would need to increase by 23 percent for the train to reduce emissions to a level equivalent to the individual car trips.”

The problem and why our politicians do not care is that New Mexico is awash in cash. There are numerous wasteful government spending programs that New Mexico SHOULD reconsider that simply won’t be until New Mexico faces some kind of financial pressure. The Rail Runner’s obscene per-passenger cost is one of them.