Railway reroute
BioPark train will shift to Botanic Garden loop
The familiar ABQ BioPark train will keep chugging along, but not at the BioPark Zoo, where the tracks and existing depot are being removed to make way for the coming Australia and Asia exhibits.
The train, which could shuttle up to 100 passengers among the zoo, Tingley Beach and the Botanic Garden — all components of the BioPark — will remain on a track loop at the Botanic Garden. There, a new train depot will be constructed at Heritage Farm, on the far northeast side of the property, along with other farm improvements, said Brandon Gibson, deputy director of the city’s Cul
tural Services Department.
“This fan favorite attraction will complement the theme and allow our guests some unique views of the new farm spaces and provide beautiful scenes of the Botanic Garden,” Gibson said.
The zoo and Tingley Beach will not be without train service, however. As part of the new construction, an electric-powered trackless tram, basically a train on wheels, will replace the former tracked train, Gibson said.
Visitors will be able to take the new wheeled train from the zoo to Tingley Beach (the tracks there will also be removed), to a passenger drop-off at the backside of the aquarium, at the far south side of the Botanic Garden.
That train is expected to accommodate up to 60 passengers, he said.
Construction on the Heritage Farm expansion and train improvements is expected to begin in November, with a planned opening in late summer 2021, Gibson said.
Construction of the Asia exhibit is expected to begin in November, while construction of the Australia exhibit may begin in early 2021, Gibson said.
Purchase of the wheeled train, relocation of tracks at the Botanic Garden, upgrades to Heritage Farm and construction of the new zoo exhibits are primarily being funded by a gross receipts tax approved by voters in 2015, Gibson said. That tax generates between $14 million and $17 million yearly for BioPark capital improvements.