Posted at: 07/30/2009 12:56 PM
Updated at: 07/30/2009 1:19 PM
By: Kayla Anderson, Eyewitness News 4, and Reed Upton, KOB.com

Rail Runner to celebrate 3rd anniversary

Central New Mexico's Rail Runner commuter train will celebrate its third year of operation Friday when it cuts the ribbon on a new train station south of Santa Fe.

Meanwhile, effective at noon Friday, trains will no longer blow their horns in a three-mile quiet zone in Albuquerque's North Valley.

The new station will be at Highway 599 just south of Santa Fe, which spokeswoman Augusta Myers says will make it easier for northern New Mexicans to connect with their southern neighbors.

"Now they can take it from 599 - hop on the Rail Runner and head south," she says. "So I think this is going to be a critical station."

From the Highway 599 station, several shuttles will offer service to different parts of Santa Fe.

"We're going to have some really good connections there and I think this is going to be a good station that really serves the north well," said Myers.

The Rail Runner is also adding more parking space at its Los Ranchos station in Albuquerque, a station that Myers admits surprised officials by its popularity.

"We're graveling it, we're putting in parking bumpers, we're putting lights in it and a camera to monitor activity while people leave their cars for most of the day."

The grand opening celebration for the new Highway 590 station will get underway at 3:00 Friday afternoon.