Las Cruces to El Paso commuter rail study to be released

Jason Gibbs | Las Cruces Sun-News

Show Caption Hide Caption First woman train engineer talks career El Paso native Christine Gonzalez gained nationwide fame in the 1970s as the first woman in the United States to become an engineer for a Class 1 railroad.

LAS CRUCES - A study on proposed commuter rail service between Las Cruces and El Paso found that while we may have the population to support such a service, it could be a while before we're able to ride the rails in southern New Mexico.

The results of the $50,000 study, commissioned by the South Central Regional Transit District, will be revealed during a public meeting from 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, June 27, at Peace Lutheran Church, 1701 Missouri Ave.

In April, 2016, a wide-reaching online survey received more than 1,000 responses and included two public meetings, one in Las Cruces, and another in Anthony. At the Las Cruces meeting, between 130 and 150 people attended and there was "only one naysayer," said David Armijo, SCRTD executive director.

At the time, some expressed support and some opposition, about the proposal for light rail service that could include Las Cruces, El Paso, Anthony, communities in between, and possibly a connection to Spaceport America.

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"Not to say people will overwhelmingly support it, and we are going to do it tomorrow," Armijo said. "Hope the next step is the two communities start a dialogue and see where we want to be in 25 years."

The new commuter rail study was paid for with state funding from Rep. Jeff Steinborn and other legislators. The funds were received by The South Central Regional Transit District, which hired the Center for Neighborhood Technology to conduct the 15-question online survey.

“The study reveals how people will use the commuter service, which impediments or problems the commuter service may have, and will be helpful for a proposed service plan,” said David Chandler, director of market research and innovation at Chicago-based CNT and project manager for the commuter rail study. “A rail service would be a fixed, permanent anchor (of transportation) and would operate on the same track as the Burlington Northern Santa Fe, one of the largest freight railroads in the United States.”

The proposed service plan would include the complete train schedule or train frequencies for future riders. The study will present the level of projected ridership, applicable fees to ride the train, the involved capital costs to operate the train and the development needed in the community around the stations. Chandler has been working on the study for the past 18 months as project manager.

Points included in a draft of an executive summary presented to the transit district board on April 26 conclude, “the Las Cruces to El Paso corridor has a sufficient population and economy to support and benefit from a commuter rail service.”

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The summary goes on to caution, however, that bus-based transit services don’t have enough riders to indicate there is a market for commuter rail and estimates rail ridership between 5,500 and 9,200 passengers on an average work day. The higher estimate would require four train sets, each with a locomotive and three passenger cars. That would come at a cost of roughly $76.8 million for new equipment and $13,86 million for used.

An analysis based on 12 comparable rail services shows costs to operate the service at $15.61 to $18.68 per one-way trip. An agreement with BNSF would have to be reached as well.

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Las Cruces resident Scott Syner has been commuting from Las Cruces to far east El Paso for the past 34 years and believes more people would benefit from a long-stretched rail service that includes the far east El Paso areas, including Horizon City.

“Horizon City has been exploding," Syner said. "There is so much building. The further (the line reaches east), the better,” he added.

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Preliminary plans are in place for the north station to be located at The Las Cruces Railroad Museum on Mesilla Street. Union Station in El Paso would be final, southern destination.

Ngage New Mexico provided community outreach for the convening for the study and the Empowerment Congress of Doña Ana County also assisted.

“There are many dual-rail systems — Albuquerque to Santa Fe, Austin to San Antonio, San Francisco to Seattle — all of which contribute to economic development,” said Ngage New Mexico Executive Director Frank R. Lopez.

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The approval process for the commuter rail system is lengthy. The South Central Regional Transit District board will explore the feasibility with key partners including regional governments, Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway, and the New Mexico Department of Transportation.

The fact remains, the area is growing and will need to address public transportation issues at some point, Armijo said. That is something that should be done sooner rather than later.

"People are coming. They are gong to build roads and everything else," Armijo said. "The question is: Do we wait? I don’t think we want to wait until we have six-lane and 10-lane interstates with all that traffic and air pollution. This is a resource that is available to us. You have those assets and resources. Do you want to utilize them or keep building freeway?"

Jason Gibbs may be reached at 575-541-5451, jgibbs@lcsun-news.com or @fjgwriter on Twitter.