Passenger Trains > Rail Runner: $254,000 Surplus

Doesn't Surprise me our resident Rail runner haters have been quiet on this one, however there is still much room for cost reductions.

By Lloyd Jojola
Journal Staff Writer
The New Mexico Rail Runner Express ended last fiscal year with a $254,000 surplus, according to the final, unaudited budget numbers recently released by the Rio Metro Regional Transit District, which manages the train for the state.

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Read more: ABQJOURNAL NEWS/STATE: Rail Runner: $254,000 Surplus http://www.abqjournal.com/news/state/012388state11-01-10.htm#ixzz14EWBLTLu

It's very easy to reclassify operating expenses as capital and construction expenses, which lets a deep in the hole operation appear profitable. I'd be interested in seeing audited financial statements, which are very unusual in governments.

The fares are rock bottom cheap, hardly even worth collecting

I'm having great difficulty convincing myself that this is good news.
From the same article:

" ... The majority of the commuter train system's fiscal 2010 operating revenue — $11.95 million — came from gross receipts tax money dedicated for regional mass transit, including the train. About 13 percent — $2.927 million — was generated at the farebox. The remainder of the revenue came from a combination of sources, including federal and state money and BNSF and Amtrak track-use money. About $643,000 in federal stimulus money also was allocated for Sunday service.
Early in the calendar year, around the middle of the fiscal 2010 year, the state shifted $750,000 in federal funds for the train and a weekend fare increase and Saturday service cuts were instituted to head off a then-projected budget shortfall....."

Read more: ABQJOURNAL NEWS/STATE: Rail Runner: $254,000 Surplus http://www.abqjournal.com/news/state/012388state11-01-10.htm#ixzz14FORZXiW
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Government and Private accounting are two different animals. But I assume this would not be a profit in any sense since they only make the payroll through subsidies. ie surplus is not a profit. Just means the didn't run out of money which would be great news for the CTA in Chicago.


Bob

Lackawanna484 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It's very easy to reclassify operating expenses as
> capital and construction expenses, which lets a
> deep in the hole operation appear profitable. I'd
> be interested in seeing audited financial
> statements, which are very unusual in
> governments.
>
> The fares are rock bottom cheap, hardly even worth
> collecting

robj Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Government and Private accounting are two
> different animals. But I assume this would not be
> a profit in any sense since they only make the
> payroll through subsidies. ie surplus is not a
> profit. Just means the didn't run out of money
> which would be great news for the CTA in Chicago.
>
>
> Bob
>
> Lackawanna484 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > It's very easy to reclassify operating expenses
> as
> > capital and construction expenses, which lets a
> > deep in the hole operation appear profitable.
> I'd
> > be interested in seeing audited financial
> > statements, which are very unusual in
> > governments.
> >
> > The fares are rock bottom cheap, hardly even
> worth
> > collecting


If the state moved substantial amounts of money in to cover losses at Rail Runner, and at the end of the year, there was money left over, it would indeed be a "surplus". But it's hardly evidence of any expertise in managing the operation. It is evidence of having access to somebody with deep pockets.

They should enjoy it, as Gov Bill's checkbook has a January expiration date on it...

I am sorry to get political but stimulus money for Sunday service???? Yikes!!!, I didn't hear that.

Bob

robj Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I am sorry to get political but stimulus money for
> Sunday service???? Yikes!!!, I didn't hear that.
> Bob

Blessed be the NMRX stimulated and stimulated be the NMRX blessed.

But as far as rides go it is the best $9.00 day pass ride I can think of. I just spent the last 2 days riding, it was great with lots of legroom.
Bob

It's a great ride, especially on the high mesa south of Santa Fe, with 50-mile mountain views in all directions, better at sunset.
Also, speeding through Rio Grande bosque, agricultural fields of pueblos north and south of Abq is particularly soothing during growing time.

IMHO, when the economy recovers and more tax, crowd, traffic and crime-weary folks resume heading our way, Rail Runner will be praised as an ahead-of-its-time necessity.
Other commuter lines are also hurting...Cal Peninsula service, MTA-NYC, NJT.

I still want to know if NMDOT finally took over the Lamy-Raton line from BNSF yet. Rail Runner doesn't use it, just the SW Chiefs and occasional excursions.

The bargain $75 million sale price for 272 miles of Class 4 track from Belen Junction to the CO border supposedly included the section in question, which is the last of a three-part, phased turnover to NMDOT. Last I heard, BNSF lawyers had mysteriously stalled the deal. The BIG question--is it already paid for, lump sum, or has NM's deficit blocked the final payment? Or what?

But, NM's big question now is...we don't know yet how our new Republican governor feels about Rail Runner, especially with a state deficit of a half-billion bucks, Bill Richardson's unprosecuted investment corruption, overspending and a surplus unwisely rebated by him a few more-prosperous years ago.

Naw
BNSF still owns, dispatches and maintains La Junta to Lamy
beyond that , I dunno

Editorial opining:

"Printed from ABQjournal.com, a service of the Albuquerque Journal
URL: http://www.abqjournal.com/paperboy/text/opinion/editorials/052250322623opinioneditorials11-05-10.htm
Friday, November 05, 2010
'Surplus' Claim Takes Sanity Off the Rails
Only in government can you run almost entirely on taxpayer money, get not one but two emergency infusions, spend all but $250,000-or-so of your handouts, and have the audacity to claim you have a surplus.
If that's the track of reasoning the New Mexico Rail Runner really wants to travel, then officials owe New Mexico consumers a refund.
Yes, the commuter train's revenues outpaced expenditures by $254,481 for fiscal 2010 ($22,261,918 vs. $22,007,437).
But only $2.927 million of that revenue came from the fare box.
A big chunk — $11.95 million — came from a regional sales tax for mass transit. The rest came from a variety of sources, most also taxpayer funded — including the feds, the state, the soon-to-be-empty coal-car that is the stimulus —as well as the private and tax-supported railroads for use of the tracks.
This is not a commentary on the validity or value of this train specifically or mass transit in general, but a question as to fiscal accountability.
To that, how much did the train cost to build, exactly?
The $500 million figure that's been thrown around for years is decidedly round and deliberately vague and undeniably outdated.
A blow of the horn to Rio Metro Regional Transit District Director Chris Blewett for keeping an eye on the bottom line, scaling back where possible as the economy made unexpected stops, and "cutting expenses where we could and trying to keep the best service that we could out there at the same time."
But claiming a surplus when officials simply failed to burn through all their taxpayer cash? That takes sanity off the rails."