Albuquerque, abbreviated as ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico, and the 32nd-most populous city in the United States. The city's nicknames are The Duke City and Burque, both of which reference its 1706 founding by Nuevo México governor Francisco Cuervo y Valdés as La Villa de Alburquerque, named in honor of then Viceroy the 10th Duke of Alburquerque, the Villa was an outpost on El Camino Real for the Tiquex and Hispano towns in the area. Since the city's founding it has continued to be included on travel and trade routes including Santa Fe Railway (ATSF), Route 66, Interstate 25, Interstate 40, and the Albuquerque International Sunport. The population census-estimated population of the city as 560,218 in 2018, it is the principal city of the Albuquerque metropolitan area, which has 915,927 residents as of July 2018. The metropolitan population includes Rio Rancho, Bernalillo, Placitas, Zia Pueblo, Los Lunas, Belen, South Valley, Bosque Farms, Jemez Pueblo, Cuba, and part of Laguna Pueblo. This metro is included in the larger Albuquerque–Santa Fe–Las Vegas combined statistical area (CSA), with a population of 1,171,991 as of 2016. The CSA constitutes the southernmost point of the Southern Rocky Mountain Front megalopolis, including other major Rocky Mountain region cities such as Cheyenne, Wyoming, and Denver, Colorado, with a population of 5,467,633 according to the 2010 United States Census.
The Sandia Mountains, are a mountain range located in Bernalillo and Sandoval counties, immediately to the east of the city of Albuquerque in New Mexico in the southwestern United States; just due south of the Rocky Mountains southern terminus, part of the Sandia–Manzano Mountains, largely within the Cibola National Forest and protected as the Sandia Mountain Wilderness. Its highest point is Sandia Crest, 10,678 feet (3,255 m).
The Alvarado Transportation Center (ATC) is a multimodal transit hub located at 100 1st Street SW in Downtown Albuquerque, New Mexico. The complex was built as a hub for Albuquerque's regional transit system and as a replacement for Albuquerque's previous bus depot and train station. The center serves ABQ RIDE, Amtrak, Greyhound Lines, and the New Mexico Rail Runner Express commuter rail line.
The New Mexico Rail Runner Express (NMRX) is a commuter rail system serving the metropolitan areas of Albuquerque and Santa Fe, New Mexico. It is administered by the New Mexico Department of Transportation (NMDOT) and the Rio Metro Regional Transit District, a regional transportation agency, while Herzog Transit Services currently holds the contract for the operation and maintenance of the line & equipment. Phase I of the system, operating on an existing right of way from Belen to Bernalillo that NMDOT purchased from BNSF Railway, opened in July 2006. Phase II, the extension of the line to Santa Fe, opened in December 2008.
Sandia Pueblo is a federally recognized tribe of Native American Pueblo people inhabiting a 101.114-square-kilometre (39.040 sq mi) reservation of the same name in the eastern Rio Grande Rift of central New Mexico. It is one of 19 of New Mexico's Native American pueblos, considered as one of the state's Eastern Pueblos. The population was 427 as of the 2010 census. The people are traditionally Tiwa speakers, a language of the Tanoan group, although retention of the traditional language has waned with later generations. They have a tribal government that operates Sandia Casino, Bien Mur Indian Market Center, and Sandia Lakes Recreation Area, as well as representing the will of the Pueblo in business and political matters.
Rio Rancho is the largest city and economic hub of Sandoval County, part of the expansive Albuquerque Metropolitan Area, in the U.S. state of New Mexico. A small portion of the city extends into northern Bernalillo County. It is the third-largest and also one of the fastest expanding cities in New Mexico. As of the 2010 census, Rio Rancho had a population of 93,820. The name Rio Rancho derives from Los Ranchos that stretched along the Rio Grande in the Albuquerque Basin, and throughout historic Nuevo México, including those in neighboring Corrales.
Sandoval County/US 550 is a station on the New Mexico Rail Runner Express commuter rail line, located in Bernalillo, New Mexico, United States.
Los Ranchos/Journal Center is a station on the New Mexico Rail Runner Express commuter rail line, located in North Valley, New Mexico.
Downtown Bernalillo is a station on the New Mexico Rail Runner Express commuter rail line, located in Bernalillo, New Mexico, United States.
Los Lunas is a station on the New Mexico Rail Runner Express commuter rail line, located in Los Lunas, New Mexico, at the intersection of NM Highway 314 and Courthouse Road. The station began service on December 11, 2006 as the fourth station on the line. Los Lunas Public Transportation has shuttles serving the station. Each of the Rail Runner stations contains an icon to express each community's identity. The icon representing this station is the old Los Lunas train station.
Belen is the southern terminus of the New Mexico Rail Runner Express commuter rail line, located in the center of the town of Belen, New Mexico, near the intersection of Reinken Avenue and Wisconsin Street. It serves residents of Belen and surrounding communities in Valencia County, New Mexico. The station began service on February 2, 2007, as the fifth station on the line.
Bernalillo County/International Sunport is a station on the New Mexico Rail Runner Express commuter rail line, located in South Valley, New Mexico, United States.
Isleta Pueblo is a station on the New Mexico Rail Runner Express commuter rail line, located in Isleta Pueblo, New Mexico, half a mile west of NM Highway 47 just off of Tribal Road 15. The station opened to service on December 17, 2008.
Santa Fe Depot is the northern terminus of the New Mexico Rail Runner Express commuter rail line. The station was originally built by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe, and until 2014 served as the northern terminus, offices, and gift shop of the Santa Fe Southern Railway, a tourist and freight carrying short line railroad. It is located in Santa Fe, New Mexico at 410 Guadalupe Street, within an area of urban renewal referred to as the "Railyard". Rail Runner service to the station began on December 17, 2008.
South Capitol is a station on the New Mexico Rail Runner Express commuter rail line, located in Santa Fe, New Mexico at 1301 Alta Vista, between St. Francis Drive and Cerrillos Road, near the South Capitol Governmental Complex. It opened to service on December 17, 2008.
Zia Road is a station on the New Mexico Rail Runner Express commuter rail line, located in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The station is the first Rail Runner stop to be constructed on private land. Officials had predicted that the station was scheduled to open in August 2011, following an agreement from the city's finance committee that the stop will open if the owners construct parking and transit facilities for the station and the station opened in April 2017.
Santa Fe County/NM 599 is a station on the New Mexico Rail Runner Express commuter rail line, located southwest of Santa Fe, New Mexico, in Santa Fe County. It opened August 1, 2009.
Kewa Pueblo is a station on the New Mexico Rail Runner Express commuter rail line, located in Kewa Pueblo on Indian Service Route 88. It opened on March 22, 2010.
The Lobo Special Events Platform is an inactive limited use platform on the New Mexico Rail Runner Express commuter rail line. MRCOG created the station in 2009 at a cost of $1 million, split between MRCOG and The University of New Mexico. It was created as an incentive for residents of the region to use alternative transportation to attend University of New Mexico sports games as well as games of the Albuquerque Isotopes minor baseball team at Isotopes Park.
Montaño is a station on the New Mexico Rail Runner Express commuter rail line on Montaño Rd. between Edith Blvd. and Second St., in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The station opened on April 7, 2014, marking the end of construction of the Montaño Transit Center.
