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Railrunner, Already Subsidized By New Mexico Taxpayers, Sees Rides Fall By 11 Percent

New Mexico's distinctive commuter rail line cuts a breathtaking path through swaths of cottonwood trees clustered along the Rio Grande, ferrying workers between metropolitan Albuquerque to the seat of state government in Santa Fe.

Fewer and fewer riders are bearing witness to those high-desert vistas on the 10th anniversary of the Rail Runner Express, whose double decker coaches and locomotives are emblazoned with a red roadrunner.

About 887,000 boarded the Rail Runner in the 12 month period ending in June, down 11 percent from the previous fiscal year. There were 40 percent more riders in 2010.

Operators of the 97-mile passenger line say relatively cheap gasoline prices have been syphoned away passengers from the train to the highway system.

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