I’m taking the Rail Runner up to Santa Fe to live-blog the legislative session with the New Mexico Independent (just like I did last Wednesday). You can find that live-blog on our homepage tomorrow morning.The state just announced that it found money to keep the Rail Runner operating on the weekends. Service to Belen and Santa Fe was scheduled to stop Feb. 15. The Department of Transportation was staring down the barrel of a $1 million budget shortfall. The state found the money by shuffling $750,000 from one federal fund (surface transportation) to an air quality fund. Rail Runner can use air quality money because it takes cars off the road. Weekend fares may get more expensive, though.
“The Rail Runner has boosted tourism and helped generate business for the state at a time when we need it most,” Governor Bill Richardson said in a news release. “Now is not the time to cut services.”Remember Jessica Cassyle Carr’s photo essay? She shot it through the window of the train.
