NOB HILL--A fellow rail fan in Arizona has emailed me that a tentative schedule has been posted for the New Mexico RailRunner. And...it looks like the RailRunner also has a new website. Although the website is still under construction, the female rider depicted plays to every rail fantasy in existence since Grant and Eva Marie Saint sat down to dinner.The schedule is pretty interesting. It looks like it will take 45 minutes to get from downtown Belen to downtown Albuquerque. That is not too much faster than driving, but remember this time includes 3 stops before the train gets to ABQ's Alvarado Center. So I imagine that train is going to be passing cars like crazy. Now that is the kind of visual advertising that increases ridership!
And speaking of rail fantasies, the last train leaves Los Lunas for ABQ at 7:45 in the evening...so there is plenty of time for that tete a tete at the Luna Mansion.
5 comments:
45 minutes is a long time to get from belen to downtown albuquerque, but the stress you save from not having to drive is likely quite worth it... That stretch of I25 can get pretty conjested.
matthew - google and other online map services estimate travel time from belen to ABQ at 41 minutes. even if that's a bit slow for us speeders, the difference between the train and the interstate is pretty negligible, really. especially, as you note, when you account for traffic, which is only going to get worse. i noticed the last time i drove down 25 that the bedroom subdivisions are really cropping up in belen these days...
I was very well read when I commuted between Westport CT and NYC.
If you need (want?) to live relatively far from work, you can make much better use of your commute time when you are not driving.
The travel times between rail and car from Belen and downtown Albuquerque may be about the same, but once you factor in the time it takes to transfer to and ride a bus (unless you happen to work downtown), then the trip is much longer. Of course there is reduced stress from not having to deal with driving in traffic, but there IS the added stress of dealing with the Albuquerque bus system...
What really bugs me about this preliminary schedule is that there is no weekend service. That is the only time I would have a chance (and good reason) to ride the RailRunner. Oh well, I guess some train service is better than no train service (at least as a start).
I should have mentioned that they do expect to add some Saturday service within the first few months.
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