The Rail Runner Express is considering curtailing weekday train service to save money.

Changes could force early birds to take a bus instead of a train between metropolitan Albuquerque and Santa Fe, and eliminate some stops at the year-old Kewa Pueblo station, if one proposal is adopted.

The loss of $1.2 million in federal funding prompted the Mid-Region Council of Governments, which operates the Rail Runner for the state of New Mexico, to rethink the passenger train schedule, spokesman Jay Faught said.

Among the proposals, he said, are to use bus service to replace the earliest northbound and southbound trains on weekdays. That proposed change would affect mostly commuters headed to Los Alamos, who comprise the majority of riders on the earliest trains. The bus would make stops at Los Ranchos, Sandoval County at U.S. 550 and Santa Fe County at N.M. 599 before continuing north to Los Alamos, Faught said.

Meanwhile, other trains would make fewer stops. The northbound train 508 and southbound train 515, two of the Rail Runner's busiest weekday runs, would no longer stop at the Kewa and downtown Bernalillo platforms. Under the proposal, those trains also would bypass the soon-to-open Sandia Station north of Albuquerque and the unopened Zia Station in Santa Fe. Those stops aren't being eliminated but would be served by other trains, Faught said.

Another big weekday change would move up the departure time for the final train leaving Santa Fe to 9 p.m. from 9:30 p.m. The 8:20 p.m. southbound train to Albuquerque also would be eliminated, meaning if you miss the 6:26 p.m. southbound train, you're stuck in Santa Fe until 9.

Also up for discussion is delaying by an hour the first midday departure from Santa Fe for Albuquerque. Currently, the 509 train leaves the Santa Fe Depot at 11:33 a.m. Under the proposal, the 509 would leave at 12:30 p.m.

The Rail Runner now uses two trains to accomplish what one train could do, Faught said. Currently, a northbound train leaves downtown Albuquerque at 10:35 a.m. and doesn't pull into the Santa Fe Depot, its last stop, until 12:13 p.m., 40 minutes after the southbound train's 11:33 a.m. departure. By delaying the southbound train's departure to 12:30 p.m., only one train, rather than two, is needed to make the northbound and southbound runs.

In addition to proposed weekday changes, the Mid-Region Council of Governments is thinking about changing the Rail Runner's summer weekend schedule, which might mean riders will have to linger a little longer in Santa Fe and in Albuquerque.

Under that proposal, the last train to leave Santa Fe on Saturday would depart at 9:30 p.m., not 6:30 p.m., the current final departure. Meanwhile, the last northbound train to depart Albuquerque on Saturday would pull out at 10:11 p.m., several hours after 4:44 p.m., the time when the final train headed for Santa Fe pulls out under the current schedule.

That change would allow "Santa Fe residents to enjoy an evening out on the town," a news release said.

Recently, Walter Garcia said the proposed changes to the Rail Runner's schedule could affect commuters heading up to Los Alamos.

"These changes will affect the winter (schedules)," said Garcia, who was riding the Rail Runner on a recent morning.

Garcia was speaking of the wintry conditions that sometimes turn I-25 into an icy drive.

The changes aren't expected to take effect until mid-August, but the Mid-Region Council of Governments wants feedback on the proposed changes by Friday, Faught said.

"We need to get the changes to our transit partners, the bus companies, so they make their own changes," Faught explained.

The proposed changes are at nmrailrunner.com.

Contact Trip Jennings at 986-3050 or at tjennings@sfnewmexican.com.