SB 226 HIGH-SPEED RAILROAD ACROSS THE STATE

Sen William Soules

Actions: [4] SCC/STBTC/SFC-SCC-germane-STBTC

Scheduled: Not Scheduled

 Senate Bill 226 (SB 226) appropriates one billion dollars ($1,000,000,000) to the Department of Transportation to construct a high-speed passenger railroad in New Mexico. 

  Senate Bill 226 (SB 226) appropriates one billion dollars ($1,000,000,000) dollars from the General Fund (GF) to the Department of Transportation (DOT) for expenditure in Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 through FY 2029 to construct a high-speed passenger railroad that runs north-south through the entire state. 

Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of FY 2029 reverts to the GF.
 

 New Mexico, Texas and Colorado took first steps in developing a high speed train system from El Paso to Denver including securing federal funding through Senator Tom Udall’s efforts. 
President Biden’s recent rail bill contains no earmark for high-speed rail (HSR) projects.
According to one of its proponents, Andy Kunz, leader of the U.S. High Speed Rail Association, “High-speed rail is a chance to write a new history for America,” 

It proponents claim high-speed rail, or HSR, offers clear benefits -- electrified trains can run at 200-250 mph with no backups or bad roads and no standard diesel engines. According to the U.S. High Speed Rail Association, HSR is the number one climate climate-change solution to remove carbon from the US transport sector quickly. HSR reduces flights, car use, and long distance trucking. It provides a clean, quick, predictable mode of transportation for travelers/system users. The association predicts major stimulus simultaneously in construction, manufacturing, real estate and travel that will last for decades. 

The U.S. High Speed Rail Association was founded in 2009 as an independent nonprofit organization with the mission of building widespread public, business and political support for major federal investment in the national rail network.
 

 SB 226 relates to SB 262