Sale of Russian steel mills not expected to slow Biden rail plan

Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway and the Rio Metro Transportation District, which operates the New Mexico Rail Runner have finished laying new ties along a 31-mile stretch of track south of Raton Pass, replaced some 12 miles of bolted rail with welded rail between Lamy and Los Cerrillos integrated with a Positive Train Control system. 

America ships millions of tons of salvage material to India and Asia to be recycled tearing up our own ground mining for virgin minerals while steel, copper and rare earth metals are still being buried in landfills. Santa Fe County ships nearly all the plastic and steel harvested from the municipal waste stream to Colorado where Denver and Boulder are among the best cities for doing recycling right. 

In 2021 construction on a new $500 million, solar-powered long-rail mill was begun at EVRAZ Rocky Mountain Steel in Pueblo.

Millions of tons of greenhouse gases are emitted from the Comanche power plant in Pueblo each year creating electricity used by consumers who live in other parts of the state. The plant has historically served the EVRAZ steel mill, but consumers in Pueblo County are served by either Black Hills Energy or San Isabel Electric Association. [KOAA teevee]

EVRAZ enjoys a 48% market share of steel rail in North America much of it fabricated at its plant in Pueblo. Roman Abramovich is a Russian billionaire who owns more than 28% of EVRAZ PLC's total shares.

“Nothing changes. We are not going anywhere,” said Annie Stefanec, a Chicago-based spokesperson for EVRAZ North America. “We are still hiring, still going to career fairs and full steam ahead with producing steel for rail products,” in Pueblo, Stefanec said of the company, which employs 1,100 Pueblo workers. The new long rail mill “is 35% complete and should start production of the first long rail by the end of 2023," Stefanec said. [The Pueblo Chieftain]

It's not currently in President Joe Biden's rail plan but if Amtrak and the Southwest Chief & Front Range Passenger Rail Commission connect the Chief at Pueblo or Trinidad, Colorado to the Empire Builder at Shelby, Montana through Denver and Cheyenne, Wyoming it will intersect the North Coast Hiawatha at Laurel or Billings, Montana and serve the state capital in Helena.

Denver International Airport is agonizing to fly into and then finding a way back into the city complicated and expensive. If the political will existed the Rail Runner could access the Lamy spur from Santa Fe and go directly into Denver serving Colorado communities along the way.

ip photo: the New Mexico Rail Runner (right) and the engine of the Santa Fe Southern Railway idle in the Santa Fe Railyard.