HM 7 — IMPORTANCE OF AMTRAK

HOUSEA MEMORIAL 7RECOGNIZING 54THTHE LEGISLATURE-IMPORTANCE STATE OF NEWAMTRAK, MEXICOTHE -NATIONAL FIRSTRAILROAD SESSIO,PASSENGER 2019CORPORATION, INTRODUCEDAND BYITS TomásCONTRIBUTION E.TO NEW MEXICO'S MOBILITY AND ECONOMY;

Salazar 6 8 10 A MEMORIAL RECOGNIZING THE IMPORTANCE OF AMTRAK, THE NATIONAL RAILROAD PASSENGER CORPORATION, AND ITS CONTRIBUTION TO NEW MEXICO'S MOBILITY AND ECONOMY;

e9 t 17 w l n d 18 WHEREAS, Amtrak, the national railroad passenger = = 19 a l corporation and a federally chartered corporation, provides i a e r 20 intercity transportation service to millions of Americans each a t m m 21 year and operates two long-distance routes through New Mexico;

d r e 22 and c e s k 23 WHEREAS, Amtrak's southwest chief train runs between e a n b 24 Chicago and Los Angeles, with stops in New Mexico at Raton, Las u [ Vegas, Lamy, Albuquerque and Gallup;

and .212349.1 WHEREAS, the southwest chief serves cities and rural areas, carries passengers through scenic landscapes not visible from highways and provides a safe, comfortable and energy-energy-efficient efficient form of transportation;

and WHEREAS, the southwest chief provides interstate transportation for New Mexico residents and travelers HM 7 Page 1 visiting New Mexico;

and WHEREAS, each year, approximately four thousand four hundred boy scouts who camp at the Philmont scout ranch travel e e 17 on the southwest chief, using the Raton station;

and e e n d 18 WHEREAS, the southwest chief's presence in the region = = l ] 19 enhances the state and local economies by attracting tourists a l r i 20 and employing New Mexicans;

and t e a t WHEREAS, the southwest chief's presence in the region m m 21 e d r e 22 supports local businesses through the purchase of goods and c e r c 23 services;

and e a n b 24 WHEREAS, Amtrak spent nine hundred thirty-seven thousand u [ seven hundred fifty-eight dollars ($937,758) on goods and .212349.1 - 2 - services in New Mexico in federal fiscal year 2017;

and WHEREAS, capital funding is needed to modernize the HM 7 Page 2 southwest chief line running from Hutchinson, Kansas, to Albuquerque so that the line meets required passenger-rail standards;

and WHEREAS, at a 2011 meeting of the southwest chief coalition, a group of concerned citizens and elected officials from Colorado, Kansas and New Mexico, BNSF railway company and Amtrak identified the need for one hundred million dollars e e 17 ($100,000,000) in repairs and capital improvements in Kansas, e e n d 18 Colorado and New Mexico to keep the southwest chief = = l ] 19 operational;

and a l r i 20 WHEREAS, in September 2014, through the transportation t e a t investment generating economic recovery 6 program, the United m m 21 e d r e 22 States department of transportation awarded Garden City, c e r c 23 Kansas, twelve million five hundred thousand dollars e a n b 24 ($12,500,000) to begin modernizing the BNSF railway company's u [ La Junta subdivision used by the southwest chief;

and .212349.1 - 3 - WHEREAS, combined with matching funds, almost twenty-two million dollars ($22,000,000) was allocated toward rail infrastructure upgrades in Kansas and Colorado;

and HM 7 Page 3 WHEREAS, combined with matching funds, over twenty-four million dollars ($24,000,000) was allocated to upgrades and repairs in Kansas, Colorado and New Mexico;

and WHEREAS, with matching funds, twenty-five million dollars e e 17 ($25,000,000) is allocated for continued upgrades in Kansas, e e n d 18 Colorado and New Mexico;

and = = l ] 19 WHEREAS, successful completion of the transportation a l r i 20 investment generating economic recovery 9 grant will mean that t e a t seventy-one million dollars ($71,000,000) of the original one-one-hundred-million-dollar m m 21 e d r e 22 hundred-million-dollar ($100,000,000) estimate of repairs and c e r c 23 infrastructure upgrades will have been spent on upgrades;

and e a n b 24 WHEREAS, Amtrak has pledged three million dollars u [ ($3,000,000) in matching funds upon the condition that there be .212349.1 - 4 - a plan in place to guarantee that the remaining upgrades and repairs are funded and that the annual maintenance costs for the portion of the line from the Colorado state line to Lamy, New Mexico, be funded by a third party;

and WHEREAS, New Mexico governmental entities, including HM 7 Page 4 Colfax, Mora, San Miguel and Santa Fe counties, the city of Raton, the town of Springer, the villages of Cimarron and Maxwell and the department of transportation, have pledged matching funds to support the southwest chief coalition's efforts;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the New Mexico congressional delegation and the governor be called upon to e e 17 support the continued viability of the southwest chief;

and e e n d 18 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be = = l ] 19 transmitted to the members of the New Mexico congressional a l r i 20 delegation, the governor, the state transportation commission, t e a t the legislatures and the governors of Colorado and Kansas, the m m 21 e d r e 22 chief executive officer of Amtrak, the board of directors of c e r c 23 the national railroad passenger corporation and the federal e a n b 24 railroad administration.

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