Rail Runner: Expanding service would benefit El Paso
May 16, 2009
With all of the El Paso area's solar potential, El Paso Electric is going to build a solar thermal plant near Deming, with all of the power generated there going to Southern New Mexico. Our neighboring state is requiring the utility to produce 20 percent of its power through solar energy.
Written by Editorial, The El Paso Times
New Mexico has become adept at beating Texas to the punch in a lot of ways that directly affect El Paso.
A race track and casino sit just across the line in Sunland Park, and similar facilities are scattered throughout New Mexico.
With all of the El Paso area's solar potential, El Paso Electric is going to build a solar thermal plant near Deming, with all of the power generated there going to Southern New Mexico. Our neighboring state is requiring the utility to produce 20 percent of its power through solar energy.
Border train activity is being moved from Juárez and El Paso west to the Santa Teresa, N.M. area.
And now, after the much-touted Trans Texas Corridor seems to be dead, New Mexico is talking about the possibility of extending Rail Runner service to El Paso. Rail Runner currently connects Belen with Santa Fe.
U.S. Rep. Harry Teague, D-N.M., has introduced The Southwestern Transit Corridor Planning and Fuel Use Reduction Act. This would enable a feasibility study to examine options for public transportation between Las Cruces and El Paso, and would study the possible extension of Rail Runner to El Paso, with as-yet undetermined stops along the way.
Light rail would expedite traffic between El Paso and Santa Fe, whether the riders are traveling for business or pleasure. It should help to boost tourism all along the line and particularly in Santa Fe, Albuquerque, Las Cruces and El Paso. And, depending on the level of violence in our sister city, it should benefit Juárez with both tourism and business.
Light rail presumably would keep a lot of vehicles off the roads. That would help with air quality and the consumption of increasingly expensive fossil fuels.
U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-El Paso, is co-sponsoring the bill. He said, "People always complain about traffic and the problem will only get worse if we don't look beyond our cars and SUVs for our daily commute.
"Expanding the Rail Runner service to El Paso would give thousands of daily commuters a convenient means to travel to and from southern New Mexico. Thousands of students, workers, and visitors would greatly benefit from this system."
He's right. This is an idea worth pursuing.
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