Cruces-El Paso commuter train support surveyed

Study analyzes potential of rail service linking two cities, towns along route

LAS CRUCES — There is enough economic activity to support a commuter rail between Las Cruces and El Paso, but are the commuters on board?

A feasibility study by the Chicago-based nonprofit Center for Neighborhood Technology was presented this week. The $50,000 study, commissioned by the South Central Regional Transit District, points to a need to begin coordination between Las Cruces and El Paso, as well as Doña Ana County and BNSF Railway, said David Armijo, South Central Regional Transit District executive director.

The center’s principal business analyst, David Chandler, pointed to a series of meetings in 2016 and an online survey that showed 87 percent of those questioned would use a commuter rail line running from Las Cruces to El Paso, stopping at communities along the way.

Roughly 60 percent of residents surveyed last year by Ngage New Mexico said they would use rail to commute to work daily, 35 percent would travel to college and 80 percent would travel from terminal to terminal.

The planned route would have stops in Las Cruces, Mesilla Park, Berino, Vado, Anthony, Canutillo, Sunland Park and El Paso. The study estimates rail ridership between 4,452 and 7,403 passengers on an average work day. The route would require four train sets, each with a locomotive and three passenger cars. That would come with a price tag of $56.8 million to $76.8 million for new equipment and $14 million to $18.8 million for used equipment.

Based on comparable rail services, costs to operate the service would be $15.61 to $18.68 per one-way trip. Passengers would pay between $3.49 and $3.64 per ticket.

“If we had a train running today, there would be sufficient economic base” to support it, Chandler said.