Rail Runner is requesting millions of dollars from the state of New Mexico for an improvement project. The new building will be used for maintenance and will replace their current building, which is in disrepair. 

They are requesting $40 million from the state of New Mexico in order to construct a maintenance building, which has been necessary for the past 20 years, according to KRQE. 

“It’s been bare bones for the past 17 years," Augusta Meyers, spokesperson for the New Mexico Rail Runner Express, said to KRQE. “We have to make sure to do inspections on the brakes, the hoses, all of the mechanical systems, to make sure it’s running properly before we start service every day.”

The building presently being used is not appropriate for maintaining trains, as they have to divide up the labor instead of doing it all at the same time. The facility is both too small and in need of repair, due to its dangerous staircases. The money will be utilized to buy land and then construct the building, which would take roughly two years. 

The current building's canopy is also too small to protect the train, KRQE said. $32 million out of the $40 million in funding is intended to come from the federal government and not from the state of New Mexico.