Amtrak Service in Northern NM at Risk

From krqe.com - While the railroad has been a significant part of Albuquerque’s history for decades, it may not be around for much longer. Representatives of Amtrak and the BNSF Railway Co. met with leaders from New Mexico, Colorado and Kansas on Tuesday to try and figure out how to keep the daily Southwest Chief train between Chicago and Los Angeles on its current, longtime route.  That train stops in Raton, Las Vegas, Lamy and Albuquerque on its way west and return to Chicago. Amtrak officials, however, estimate it will cost $100 million to fix or replace the tracks along the route, while another $10 million a year is necessary to maintain the tracks. "We need to have a good idea that this is all going to come together by 2014,” said Amtrak spokesperson Marc Magliari. “Because by 2016 the current agreement we have where BNSF Railway maintains this goes away and the entire cost of this falls on Amtrak."  More here

Amtrak Service in Northern NM at Risk