Congressman Harry of NM wants the Rail Runner, already suffering from marginal density in its Belen terminal, to go to El Paso. (See article.) The reasoning is, and get this, the rest of New Mexico wants commuter options, too. This shows that Mr. Teague has no concept of how to use rail resources and recover revenue. Yes, El Paso would be a high-density city population, also with potential Mexican passengers (and concomitant border crossing problems like Amtrak’s international trains), but running a train because the other 2/3 of New Mexico has one isn’t a good reason. And the northern end of the route is a marginal terminal (Santa Fe), that even the old namesake railroad didn’t go to. (See my blog Passenger Rail.)
On the other hand, 2/3 of the population of the state already has (have) a train that can’t and won’t pay for itself, and for which funding for the indefinite future is in doubt. Perhaps the rest of the state deserves to have the same thing.
Gov. Bill might have a few friends who would like a finder’s fee to place the bonds for the project.
