(The following article by Todd Wildermuth was posted on the Raton Range website on October 14.)
RATON, N.M. — Seven weeks after Raton’s Amtrak ticket office was initially scheduled to close, the office apparently finally did shut down Sunday.
On Monday morning, the office at the train depot on First Street was locked and the windows were covered by closed blinds. An hours-of-operation sign was still posted in the window, but no employees were to be found. On Friday, the office’s only full-time employee said that if the office was still in operation this week it would be open on Monday, Columbus Day, because it never closes for holidays.
However, that employee anticipated Sunday as the final day of operation for the local ticket office. He said he received a fax from the office’s Albuquerque supervisor last Tuesday that informed him that his “job is abolished” as of Sunday, Oct. 12.
In mid-August, public notices were posted on the ticket office window and the door of the passenger waiting area saying the office would close as of Aug. 26. But the office remained in operation until this past weekend. No public notices were posted about the Oct. 12 closure date.
The passenger rail service will continue to run its Southwest Chief through Raton twice a day, although the ticket office closure has some local residents questioning how long financially-troubled Amtrak will continue to keep Raton as part of its route.
The closure leaves Raton – which annually handles more Amtrak passengers than any New Mexico stop other than Albuquerque – as an “unmanned station” along the route of the Southwest Chief, which runs between Chicago and Los Angeles. The ticket office closure means people will no longer be able to purchase Amtrak tickets in Raton, and baggage handling will not be provided. Tickets can be purchased on the Internet or by calling 800-USA RAIL.
The Amtrak employee at the Raton ticket office last week speculated that the company may want to close the local office for the winter and then open it during the summer when train travel through Raton increases with traveling vacationers and Boys Scouts from throughout the country heading to and leaving Philmont Scout Ranch near Cimarron. Amtrak officials in Albuquerque could not be reached to comment on any future plans for Raton’s ticket office.
For many years, the Boys Scouts of America have relied on Amtrak to get them from all over the country to Raton in order to head to Philmont Scout Ranch near Cimarron. The Scouts usually spend time in Raton on their way each summer. However, the Scouts have already been trying other transportation means this summer, such as flying into Denver and Colorado Springs, Colo., and then being bused directly to Philmont, usually without stopping in Raton.
The ticket office closure impacts three Amtrak employees: one full-time, one part-time, and a third who fills in for the other two when needed.