New Mexico Taxpayers Hit By a Train

Westport News — Finances for the state's Rail Runner Express are facing big shortfalls in both the short and long term. The railroad's governing board eliminated weekend service as it worked to close a projected $1.2 million shortfall in the budget year that began Friday. But board member Larry Abraham, the mayor of Los Ranchos, told the Albuquerque Journal that the deficit is just the tip of the iceberg. The railroad takes in much less from taxes and fares than it needs to operate the trains between Belen and Santa Fe. That doesn't take into account payments on $451 million in bonds the state issued to purchase track and rolling stock. Abraham said the Rail Runner "will die a slow death" unless the state finds ways of increasing ridership and better aligning the train system with the state's tourism industry. The weekend service cut was needed to as a wake-up call about a looming financial crisis and the future of the rail system, he said. It helped fill a budget hole caused by the expiration of a federal clean air grant. Read full story here: News New Mexico

New Mexico Taxpayers Hit By a Train