The Federal Railroad Administration issued citations against the state Department of Transportation after stretches of railroad track used for slow-speed freight hauling in Albuquerque and Bernalillo weren't inspected as required.

Officials admit inspections weren't done on parts of railroad spurs along Albuquerque's north and south valley that aren't used for passenger travel.

The state isn't appealing the November 2011 citations, and inspections have since begun. They had not been done on those sections since the state acquired the tracks from Belen to Bernalillo in March 2006, officials said.

The DOT blames a misunderstanding about track ownership and maintenance and says passenger train tracks have always been inspected properly and are not at issue.

Fines for the violations haven't been set, and the state says it will be up to the Rio Metro Regional Transit District to pay them.

Under contracts that govern the state-owned tracks, the Rio Metro Regional Transit District and the Mid Region Council of Governments oversee day-to-day train operations. A contract with Herzog Transit Systems Inc. calls on that company to perform the track inspections and maintain the rail.

The state says Herzog didn't understand that the spurs are owned by the state and thus didn't realize those spurs needed inspecting.

"This apparent misinterpretation resulted in the mistaken belief that the spur tracks listed in the [Federal Railroad Administration] violation report were not owned by NMDOT, and thus not covered under the maintenance agreement. Herzog erroneously believed that those tracks were the property of BNSF Railway or the responsibility of the industry of which the spur track served," said Manon Arnett, spokeswoman for the DOT.

Terry Doyle, director of transportation and planning services for the Council of Governments, said the issue was a "bit of a miscommunication" but has since been resolved. At no time were there deficiencies in the spur that were not addressed, he said.

The track spurs at issue in the citation are required to be inspected once a month. By comparison, passenger train tracks need to be inspected visually twice a week and electronically at least once a year.

The federal agency listed 20 spurs that hadn't been inspected.

Most are in Albuquerque's north and south valleys, and one is the central part of the city. Three are in Bernalillo.

The DOT says the spurs are used infrequently, and allow delivery of freight that doesn't travel faster than 10 miles per hour. They are used to place freight at a customer's dock or to store freight cars that are not in use.

Contact Kate Nash at 986-3036 or knash@sfnewmexican.com.