RAIL RUNNER BIRTHDAY BASH MOSTLY ABOUT TROUBLES

Nov. 24--Happy Birthday, New Mexico Rail Runner! But where's the celebration?

The state's first commuter rail project was approved a decade ago this month, but the initial years of fanfare and novelty have given way to declining ridership numbers and increasing costs.

The state Department of Transportation no longer subsidizes train operations, but will still devote an average of $30 million a year from the state road fund to pay the debt service on the 99-mile rail line from Santa Fe to Belen.

For now, federal grants are helping to balance the Rail Runner's annual operating budget, and an Albuquerque-based public transit organization is responsible for keeping the state's $1 billion commuter rail system afloat.

Over the next few years, Rail Runner will be facing new financial challenges: a potential $30 million hit for a federally-required but controversial "positive brake control system," a $25 million equipment upgrade, and rising liability insurance costs.

There's also uncertainty about future federal funding for public rail systems nationwide, according to a new state rail plan prepared for the DOT.

Maybe it's time for a shot in the arm, says Larry Abraham, the mayor of Los Ranchos, who heads the Rio Metro Regional Transit District board of directors, which oversees Rail Runner operations.

How about eliminating passenger fares?

"The business side of me and the entrepreneur side of me says that we ought to consider taking the fares away and going to open ridership and encourage people to build up the ridership and create more demand," Abraham said last week.

Fares amount to about $3 million a year, but the Rail Runner spends $800,000 to collect them, he said.

The fare structure is based on the distance traveled. So a one-way ticket can cost from $2 to $10.

New Mexico "has been in a lackluster economy the last five or six years," Abraham said. "Even the small amount that the fare is, that's a substantial amount to some of our families. So I think it's reasonable to take the fare system away for a couple of years, increase demand on it and make it more of a true public transportation system rather than just a commuter rail."

By the numbers

The fare box contributes about 13 percent of the Rail Runner's operating funds, according to a draft of the state rail plan released Sept. 30.

Local gross receipts taxes paid in the four New Mexico counties served by the Rail Runner supply less than half of the yearly operating revenue required and collections have been less than expected, according to the rail plan. This year, the proceeds are estimated at $12.5 million.

Meanwhile, Rail Runner's $25 million annual operating budget is projected to grow to $30 million by 2019.

In the short term, the rail line's liability insurance costs are expected to double beginning next July, from $1.9 million a year to $4.1 million, according to the DOT.

Some recent claims against the Rail Runner have involved a pedestrian fatality and two passengers falling out of train cars onto the boarding platforms. No settlement information was available.

On the positive side, thanks to more than $20 million in federal grants this year, the Rail Runner will be able to afford increased maintenance of equipment, lines and bridges and $3 million in improvements to rail crossings. And for the first time, the Rail Runner will have a cash reserve of more than $8 million for emergencies.

Over the past year, the state obtained a $5 million refund from BNSF Railway Co. for nearly 200 miles of unused rail line in northern New Mexico -- line acquired in 2008 as part of the state's original deal with BNSF to acquire train track for the Rail Runner. A $50 million escrow account required by BNSF under the agreement has been renegotiated to save the state about $1.4 million a year.

What's ahead?

The question remains: Where is the Rail Runner headed?

The train project was approved by the Legislature in November 2003 as part of a $1.6 billion transportation program called Gov. Bill Richardson'sInvestment Partnership, or GRIP. The first leg of service began in 2006.

Total payments by the DOT on GRIP principal and interest for Rail Runner development are estimated to be $709 million over a 22-year period, "reducing the amount available to NMDOT each year for other transportation programs," the rail plan says.

After providing an additional $900,000 for Rail Runner operations from 2009 to July 2012, "the state is not expected to approve operating support in future years," according to the rail plan.

Given the sizable investment made so far, the Rail Runner should be the backbone of the state's transportation system, Abraham said.

But he added, "I don't think you could solidly make a case for that now."

He is hoping his 17-member board, which is made up of elected and appointed officials, will have a "visioning session" to navigate the train's course long-term. Perhaps the train could raise its profile by becoming "more of a tourist attraction," he said.

Peak ridership came in 2009, after the line was completed to Santa Fe, according to the state rail plan.

More than 1.3 million people rode the train that year, but since then ridership has ebbed.

Last year, ridership had dropped to 1.1 million. Rio Metro officials attribute the decrease to increased fares and lower gasoline prices.

Federal mandates

High on the list of future Rail Runner capital expenses is the requirement affecting most of the U.S. rail network -- installation of a GPS-type monitoring system to prevent head-on crashes with other trains.

The cost for New Mexico's Rail Runner could be up to $30 million.

In 2008, Congress approved a rail safety law requiring the new technology with an implementation deadline of Dec. 15, 2015, after a passenger train collided head-on with a freight train in September 2008 in Chatsworth, Calif., killing 25 people and injuring more than 100.

According to a federal economic analysis, the costs of implementation nationwide outweigh the benefits by a ratio of 15 to 1.

DOT Melissa Dosher said in an email that the 2015 deadline is expected to be extended by Congress while discussions continue in Washington about allowing smaller passenger rail systems, such as Rail Runner, to implement alternative systems.

In the meantime, she said, the state DOT and Rio Metro officials in early 2014 "expect to develop a funding plan" for the positive train control or an alternative.

Riders surveyed

The new rail plan was prepared for the DOT by Cambridge Systematics Inc, of Austin, Texas, at a cost of $230,000, of which $100,000 was paid by the Federal Transit Administration. The plan is required so New Mexico can be eligible for intercity passenger rail federal funding.

Members of the public surveyed for the rail plan want more midday Rail Runner trains, later weeknight service, more weekend service and an express option between Albuquerque and Santa Fe.

They would also like to see increased Rail Runner operating speeds and reduced total travel time for commuter rail trips.

"Traveling I-25 by car between Albuquerque and Santa Fe takes approximately 70 minutes in free flow conditions, whereas the same trip on Rail Runner takes approximately 30 minutes longer," the rail plan says.

The city of Albuquerque obtained a federal grant to develop a multimodal transit facility on Montano Road that would include a Rail Runner station, which is expected to open next year. And in Santa Fe, there are still plans to open the partly built station at Zia Road. Now, there are 13 stations along the 99-mile rail corridor.

Additional stations will allow Rail Runner to serve more communities, the rail plan says, but increasing the number of stops will increase total travel times, "making service less attractive to some passengers."

Abraham noted that Rio Metro has tried to address that issue by adding two express trains -- one in the morning and another in the evening . Those routes have reduced travel times by 15 minutes by skipping low ridership stations, the rail plan says.

Meanwhile, future Rail Runner capital expenditures will be shifted from providing new and expanded services and facilities "to maintaining the existing infrastructure in a state of good repair," the rail plan says.

That's a key requirement of two federal grants that can be used to upgrade and maintain rail cars, lines and other rail assets in the future.

With the short-term and long-term uncertainty about federal funding for rail operations, the rail plan notes that the two regional transit districts served by the Rail Runner could ask voters to increase the local gross receipt tax to generate more revenue.

That shouldn't be an option, at least for now, Abraham said.

"We have to prove that we are viable and an important component to the transportation system in the region for us to ever go out there and ask for an increase in taxes."

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(c)2013 the Albuquerque Journal (Albuquerque, N.M.)

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