ALBUQUERQUE — The Rail Runner Express commuter train appears to be on schedule to make its historic first run from Albuquerque into downtown Santa Fe next month, and officials say they expect a bumper crop of riders.

“We’re bracing ourselves for a huge ridership level,” said Lawrence Rael, executive director of the Mid-Region Council of Governments, which manages the train.

“The most often-asked question we get is, ‘When are you going to Santa Fe?’” he said, which suggests the train will be popular with both commuters and sightseers. “Early on, we’ll be [packed] door-to-door.”

The inaugural run date still hasn’t been set, but all indicators suggest it will be well ahead of Christmas, Rael said.

“All the major work is completed,” he said, adding that crews have already started making test runs up the tracks. “All that’s left are the signals, telecommunications, some final work on the stations, that sort of thing. We’re not that far away.”

Fares and schedules are listed on the Rail Runner Web site, but here are the basics for travel from Albuquerque to Santa Fe:

A one-way ride is $6, with discounts for seniors and students, but an $8 day pass is good for unlimited stops between the two cities. Commuters can buy discounted monthly or annual passes — a year’s commute, for example, will cost $1,000.

Commuters can choose from eight runs a day, starting in Albuquerque at 4:23 a.m. The last weekday train pulls out of the Santa Fe Railyard for points south at 9:30 p.m. The ride will take about 90 minutes; from Bernalillo to Santa Fe will take about 60.

Weekend service initially will feature one extra train Friday, plus seven trains Saturday, the last of which leaves Santa Fe at 11:15 p.m. Sundays are reserved for track maintenance, Rael said, but the weekend schedule could eventually expand if passenger demand warrants it.

Local Riders and the Gas-Price “Roller Coaster”

The Rail Runner’s role as the spine of a mass-transit system stretching from Belen to Taos was ensured Nov. 4 when voters in seven counties approved an eighth-of-a-cent hike in the gross receipts tax.

The tax doesn’t go into effect until July 1 and the first revenues won’t be available for several months after that, but transportation officials are ecstatic about the vote, Rael said.

“And it’s not just because it passed, but because it represents a really important step for public transportation in New Mexico as a whole,” he said.

The transit system will strengthen the region economically by connecting employees and work sites, Rael said, and it will improve life for those who are less mobile, such as the elderly, the young and the poor.

“This will give people more freedom and independence,” he said.

The tax hikes are expected initially to raise some $27 million a year for mass transit projects. Much of the money will be used for Rail Runner operations, but it will also expand bus service around Albuquerque and from rural areas to the train stations.

Interest in mass transit has skyrocketed over the last year as gasoline prices started their meteoric rise toward $4 a gallon. Although the cost is back to 2004 levels and some commuters may continue driving until gasoline prices rise again, Rael said he’s optimistic about the future of mass transit in New Mexico — thanks in large part to the roller-coaster ride in crude oil prices.

“It shows we’re in a volatile economy, not only in New Mexico and the United States, but in the world, and this is a prime example of how things happen across the world that can affect me and my family,” Rael said. “Next month, we could see $4 gas again.”

Ridership on the Rail Runner has remained relatively strong, but Rael said he expects the Santa Fe service to be extremely popular, particularly once the train cars get Wi-Fi Internet service, which is due in about six months, he said.

“I think people are tired of being on I-25 without the opportunity to use that hour to log onto a computer or read the paper or a magazine,” he said.

For anyone who is thinking back to the train crash in Los Angeles that killed 25 in September and who is worried about Rail Runner safety, transportation officials say it’s more dangerous on the highway. Federal statistics published by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) show that from 2002 to 2004 there were 0.77 deaths per 100 million miles traveled on U.S. highways, while railroads logged a tiny fraction of that — 0.03 deaths per 100 million miles.

The Rail Runner is operated by Herzog Transit Services, a Missouri company that also operates dozens of trains nationwide and works in railroad and civil construction.