The Rail Runner

The Rail Runner mass transit system set a daily record Saturday when (as reported in the Albuquerque Journal) it transported over 12,000 people in the Albuquerque-Santa Fe area. Some of that ridership and maybe a lot of it was due to the fact that the Mid-Region Council of Governments, who operates the Rail Runner, was issuing free weekend day passes between Albuquerque and Santa Fe. That day pass will now cost $8 which I believe is still cheaper than the cost of gas round trip between the two cities, especially now that gas prices are going back up.

Weekend service was not originally in the plans and at this point their web site shows no weekend schedule. Will the Road Runner have weekend service in the future? Only time will tell, but it looks like it will pay to have a few trains running between Belen and Santa Fe on Saturdays at least.

Rumor has it that now Taos is interested in a feeder line and I think it would be an excellent idea to have the system run all the way south to Las Cruces.

Lets hope the system is a big success. I-25 between Albuquerque and Santa Fe is usually a congested mess and getting a bunch of commuters of the road and on to the train will help that a lot.