FARMINGTON, N.M. — Studies are in progress or will be launched for a proposed rail line to connect the Four Corners region of New Mexico to BNSF’s Southern Transcon main line, which would restore a rail connection to Farmington lost when the Denver & Rio Grande Western abandoned its narrow gauge line to the community in 1968.
The Four Corners Freight Rail project — a partnership of the New Mexico Department of Transportation, San Juan County, and the Navajo Nation — is projected to cost more than $1 billion, the Albuquerque Journal reports. In October, the effort received a $4 million Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements grant [see “FRA awards $2.4 billion in CRISI grants …,” Trains News Wire, Oct. 29, 2024]. The Journal reports that money will help fund an analysis of prospective routes and preliminary engineering, including a National Environmental Policy Act review, which can take up to four years.
An earlier $2 million grant under the federal BUILD (Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development) program is funding a feasibility study, expected to be released in December. It has already led to identification of five potential routes. A website outlining the project emphasizes potential economic benefits; a fact sheet released in August says research by the New Mexico Economic Development Department and the City of Farmington found nearly $20 billion of products with projected demand for rail transport. Three public meetings on the project were held in August; a recording of a 24-minute presentation from those meetings is available here.
San Juan County Manager Mike Stark told the Journal that the closure of coal-fired power plants in the area, a key source of local jobs, helped spur the rail project. It could help deliver agricultural materials to the area and raw materials for new energy jobs, and could help attract new industries. Stark said a solar panel company had expressed interest in the area, while a local company manufacturing hydrogen generators is interested in shipping by rail.
I like the US 491 route via Newcomb, since that’s my middle name. Other than my middle name being what it is, I’m all for freight rail. Could someone who has been to San Juan County or Mckinley County comment as to the viability of this proposal? Or is it just someone coloring a map with his or her Magic Markers in return for $4 Million?