BNSF to sell Raton Pass Line to State of NM

[Anonymous]

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M., Nov. 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- BNSF Railway Company (BNSF) today announced that an agreement has been reached with the New Mexico Department of Transportation (NMDOT) to sell the nearly 300-mile BNSF main rail line between Belen, New Mexico and Trinidad, Colorado. The sale will be closed in segments for a total of $76 million to create a commuter rail line. Under the agreement, BNSF keeps on-going freight easement rights on the line, and NMDOT also has acquired a 13-acre portion of BNSF's Albuquerque rail yard property. The sale and commencement of service are contingent on completion of other agreements anticipated by early next year.

[John Krug]

Is Amtrak going to continue to use this line for the Southwest Chief?

[Murphy Siding]

300 mile commuter line? I don't get it.

[Anonymous]

was the line very important to BNSF?

[mudchicken]

New Mexico is basically a ward of the Federal government. Poor, thinly populated and poorly run. I would venture the funds to purchase come from Uncle Sugar somewhere.

Currently it sees 4-6 trains/ day including Amtrak. Belen to Lamy/SF will barely be commuter turf. North of that is a stretch. If you want the fastest route, Chicago-LA, it's the way to go -BUT there are these things called Raton Pass and Glorietta Hill. The industrial engineers and witless operating supervisors have blown the negatives about the route all out of proportion. The people who managed to run the hill successfully with a dose of respect for "the hill" are now retired or otherwise gone. The current folks have some skills, but the flatlanders don't savvy how to get the most out of the hill and are irrationally afraid of it.

[jeaton]

Mud

Back when I was at the coal company, the BN, probably as part a junior management development scheme moved a long time trainmaster off the line down to southern Illinois to make room for some kid that may not have known the meaning of 4' 8 1/2". My boss, who was good at these things, finally had to go to Ft Worth and kick butt so our people at the Mine HQ could get coal shipped with out constant service problems.

I have to wonder how people who couldn't manage a one car funeral prosession get jobs like that.

[Anonymous]

What's gonna happen to the Amtrak (ATSF) line that goes all the way from LA to Chicago? I wonder why BNSF would sell the line to another railroad company considering that it's one of the longest railroad lines in the country, where would BNSF goes if they wanna go from LA to Chicago?


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[mudchicken]

QUOTE: Originally posted by UnionPacificRR6737

What's gonna happen to the Amtrak (ATSF) line that goes all the way from LA to Chicago? I wonder why BNSF would sell the line to another railroad company considering that it's one of the longest railroad lines in the country, where would BNSF goes if they wanna go from LA to Chicago?


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Amtrak shares the "Southern Route" transcon with the former ATSF/BNSF freight trains between Kansas City(near) and Chicago as well as between Belen/Dalies, NM and LA.
The difference in routing is between Kansas City and Belen(south of Albuquerque), especially confusing can be the east half of Kansas.

[Modelcar]

...That bit of news is really confusing to me....What does a state {that's thinly populated}, want with 300 miles of railroad.....Is it simply to preserve the route over the mountain for some future advantage of the area.....And I suppose I wonder if so many rail lines are congested now {that business is up}, why would a main line class 1 want to dispose of 300 miles of such rail line...? The whole thing seems to make little sense....Not even to mention the thought of a "commuter line"....??

[Anonymous]

NM is supposed to start a commuter rail service called "Rail-Runner" this Dec. It will basically run between Belen and Santa Fe. This is the I-25 corridor that includes Albq. and has an increasing population base and amount of traffic congestion.

As for Raton, it is basically less used in the BNSF system. Most CHI-LA freight uses the line through Amarillo, Abo Canyon is in the process of being double tracked, and Colorado bound trains now use the old FW&D/C&S line that goes through the NE part of New Mexico.

BNSF has done basically what ATSF did with the LA-San Diego line - turn it over to the state/local govts and keep trackage rights.