The Rail Runner: a boondoggle turns 20

It seems like only yesterday that Bill Richardson’s boondoggle train started running down the tracks (Belen to Rio Rancho at the beginning). Now, 20 years later and many arguments by the Rio Grande Foundation later, the Rail Runner is a confirmed boondoggle. It is hard to say exactly how much the train has cost New Mexicans over its 20 years. Original estimates were $400 million to build with $20 million in annual operating costs, but as with any amortized project the building costs were financed and then refinanced making them hard to pin down. Our estimate is about $1 billion to build.

Notably, the Legislative Finance Committee recently reported reported back in 2024 that the train needs to increase ridership by 23% to BREAK EVEN in terms of CO2 emissions. In other words, as it stands now and until ridership increases dramatically, the Rail Runner is bad for the environment. You can see all the gory details of Rail Runner ridership here which has plummeted from a peak of 1.2 million annually back in 2010 and 2011 down to just 600,000 annually.

The Santa Fe New Mexican (via the left leaning Searchlight New Mexico), did a story a few days ago “celebrating” the Rail Runner unquestioningly. The story was unintentionally amusing, however, because of the numerous empty seats to be found on the train. Having taken the train numerous times during session, we at the Rio Grande Foundation can testify to the fact that some early trains do get fairly crowded, but most other times ridership is quite low.

Naturally, we at the Rio Grande Foundation have opposed the Rail Runner since its inception and have been proven correct. Our idea was some kind of bus system to help commuters get from (say) the mall parking lots in Albuquerque to jobs and other activities in Santa Fe. This would have been far more convenient and cost-effective while also likely better for the environment as service could be shifted or reduced to fit demand. But, we were ignored. Will New Mexico’s “leadership” ever cut their losses on the train? It is hard to see at this time given New Mexico’s ridiculous levels of oil revenues, but you never know.