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SANTA FE — New Mexico's Rail Runner Express commuter train will travel to Santa Fe by following the Interstate 25 median, state Transportation Secretary Rhonda Faught said today. The route will have the least impact on communities, she said.

The Santa Fe Metropolitan Planning Organization selected the I-25 route last week over an alternative that would have gone through the Santa Fe Community College district east of the highway.

Lawrence Rael, executive director of the Mid-Region Council of Governments, which has responsibility for the train, said the decision is a critical step in developing the Rail Runner for Santa Fe.

The Rail Runner route will follow I-25 to La Bajada south of Santa Fe, where the grade is too steep for the train, said S.U. Mahesh, a spokesman for the state Transportation Department.

Some 16 miles of new track will be built around the hill, then the train will join the interstate again north of a rest area beyond La Bajada and travel about 18 miles into downtown Santa Fe, he said. Construction is expected to start in late summer, Mahesh said.

Four routes were originally proposed, and engineers estimated a travel time of between 81 and 85 minutes on each of the alternatives with existing stops in the Albuquerque area and two stops near downtown Santa Fe.

The Rail Runner, which currently operates the 50 miles between Belen and Bernalillo, passing through Albuquerque, is to be extended to the capital city by late 2008. The leg between Belen and Albuquerque opened this month.

Currently, the train averages 1,800 riders a day, the Transportation Department said.

Daily roundtrip fares are $3; one-way fares are $2. There are reduced fares for seniors, students and disabled people.

Eventually, fares will be based on the number of zones the passenger travels through.

The $393 million Rail Runner project began running between Albuquerque and Bernalillo last July. The commuter train is expected to cost $10 million a year to operate. Faught has said that a $75 million federal grant for the train has been stalled in Congress.