I am writing today to announce the closure of the New Mexico Independent. After three and a half years of operation in New Mexico, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news…
While environmental activists played their part yesterday during demonstrations at the capitol building, going so far as to dress up as solar panels and to sing the tune of “You Are My Sunshine,” their counterparts, the anti-cap-and-trade contingency who has…
Roughly one quarter of University of New Mexico students are unimpressed with the state’s flagship public school, according to a survey that questioned college students about their higher education experiences.
It must be a commuter rail kind of day.
In addition to citizens expressing their hopes for an expansion of the Rail Runner Express in northern New Mexico, southern New Mexico Democratic Congressman Harry Teague wants to take a look at expanding the commuter rail further into his neck of the woods, even Texas.
Teague introduced the Southwestern Transit Corridor Planning and Fuel Use Reduction Act, according to a release this afternoon. The congressman will also be in Las Cruces on Saturday to discuss the legislation.
The legislation, which is cosponsored by Texas Democrat and fellow U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes, would look into adding transportation options between Las Cruces and El Paso. The bill would provide for a study to extend the Rail Runner south from Belen, the current southernmost point for the Rail Runner, to El Paso, Texas with stops in between.
“Residents of Las Cruces and El Paso deserve a first-rate transit option like commuter rail. This study will determine whether or not that’s feasible,” said Teague.
Such thoughts aren’t new.
State Rep. Jeff Steinborn, D-Las Cruces, proposed a feasibility study for expanding the Rail Runner from Belen to Las Cruces in this year’s legislative session.
Steinborn changed his mind and amended the proposal and instead suggested a feasibility study for the Rail Runner between Las Cruces and El Paso. The proposal passed the House, but failed in the Senate Corporations & Transportation Committee.
Teague will be in Las Cruces on Saturday for a Las Cruces Railroad Days event to discuss his proposal. A Rail Runner train will also be at the second annual event.
“Both Las Cruces and El Paso have expressed interest in the Rail Runner from the point of view that they would like to explore alternative transportation for their citizens,” Lawrence Rael, executive director for the Mid-Region Council of Governments, said last week in a statement.
New Mexico Department of Transportation Secretary Gary Girón said that he believes the state has “set the foundation for public transportation that could be expanded to Las Cruces and other parts of Northern New Mexico in the future.”
Girón also said that, currently, the Rail Runner serves nearly 5,000 passengers per day.
Teague noted that some recovery funds are going towards adding lanes to I-10 in Southern New Mexico, which the Hobbs Democrat said was “great.”
“But adding more lanes can’t always be the solution,” Teague said. “We need public transportation to ease congestion and save energy.”
Teague’s bill was referred to a committee on which Teague sits — the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
