Passenger Trains > "A suspect deal is finally put to rest"

https://www.abqjournal.com/1207931/a-suspect-deal-is-finally-put-to-rest.html
 
"...Back in 2004 and 2006, very few people understood what had been done to get $1.6 billion in state highway bonds used to start a bunch of highway projects and the Rail Runner commuter train....
....The swaps were arranged by CDR Financial Products. One of the company officers later testified in a criminal trial that the company made almost $1 million for 13 hours of work on the New Mexico deal...."
 

https://www.abqjournal.com/1207931/a-suspect-deal-is-finally-put-to-rest.html

Corruption runs deep in New Mexico.

New Mexico is finally free of a back-room highway bond deal that kept then-Gov. Bill Richardson out of then-President-elect Barack Obama’s Cabinet once it was exposed.

~~snip~~

In 2012, during a separate federal criminal trial in New York City, Douglas Goldberg testified that he delivered a $25,000 check directly to then-Gov. Richardson in 2004 for one of his political action committees.According to Goldberg, CDR officials had contributed a total of $100,000 to Richardson political action committees in 2004 in order to get the work with the New Mexico Finance Authority, which handled bond transactions for the Department of Transportation.

 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/12/18 13:14 by Cumbresfan.

But look what the fine citizens of Albuquerque and Sante Fe got!!!! 

"They replaced a commuter bus that charged a $3 fare to go between from downtown Albuquerque to downtown Santa Fe in 60 minutes with a train that charges a $9 fare and takes more than 100 minutes. To make matters worse, the train station is nearly 1.5 miles from the capitol, which is a bit too far for most people to walk. Despite the tripling of fares, Rail Runner‘s revenues covered just 9 percent of its operating costs in 2015."

http://ti.org/antiplanner/?p=13749

What was the farebox recovery on the $3 bus ?

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Narniaman Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> But look what the fine citizens of Albuquerque and
> Sante Fe got!!!! 
>
> "They replaced a commuter bus that charged a $3
> fare to go between from downtown Albuquerque to
> downtown Santa Fe in 60 minutes with a train that
> charges a $9 fare and takes more than 100 minutes.
> To make matters worse, the train station is nearly
> 1.5 miles from the capitol, which is a bit too far
> for most people to walk. Despite the tripling of
> fares, Rail Runner‘s revenues covered just 9
> percent of its operating costs in 2015."
>
> http://ti.org/antiplanner/?p=13749

The Park and Ride bus lot was at I-25 and US-550 in Bernalillo, and traveled I-25 to Santa Fe. Also prior to the Rail Runner was the State Employees Commuter Association (SECA) which provided 7-passenger state employee vans to many outlying communities including ABQ since the mid 1970's. When I worked in state government in Santa Fe, many co-workers used the vans as the cost of living in Santa Fe was beyond the salaries of state workers. I don't know if SECA is still in existance as the state now provides employee buses to many of these communities ( http://dot.state.nm.us/content/nmdot/en/Park_and_Ride.html ).

Regarding the train station being 1.5 miles from the state capitol, it is not. There are two stops in Santa Fe. The first is at the South Capitol complex which houses numberous state offices and the second is downtown and close to all state offices there (approx 1/4 mile) with free shuttle service to the state capitol and other locations.

These kind of deals are very common everywhere, not just in New Mexico.

In the past, there has been coverage about paper mills in Maine bailed out by bond deals sold to the Maine Legislature that later did not work out, but the arrangers were paid handsomely.

Meanwhile, New Mexico got a railroad, and Santa Fe got a direct connection. You could do worse.

reindeerflame Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Meanwhile, New Mexico got a railroad, and Santa Fe
> got a direct connection. You could do worse.

Of course you could ask the question of what the situation would be with the SWC now if the state of New Mexico had not bought the track through Albuquerque.

Jack