Choo Choo-Silver Line Opening Announced! Plus TOD News and More!

News & Updates

September 12, 2025 Issue

DART Announces Silver Line Opens Oct. 25 with Free Ride

starlocalmedia.com

Dallas Area Rapid Transit President and CEO Nadine Lee announced Sept. 12 that the official grand opening of the Silver Line will be Saturday, Oct. 25.

To commemorate the opening, riders, families and community partners are invited to join in a day of festivities that showcase the future of mobility in North Texas.

The 26-mile Silver Line links Plano, Richardson, Dallas, Addison, Carrollton, Coppell and Grapevine with Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, transforming the way residents travel for work, school and entertainment. With state-of-the-art Stadler trains, new stations and seamless transfers, the Silver Line delivers convenience and opportunity to one of the fastest-growing regions in the nation.

To mark the milestone, DART is offering free rides across the entire system all day on Oct. 25. In addition, the Silver Line will be free to ride from Oct. 25 to Nov. 8, giving everyone the chance to experience the service firsthand.

"The Silver Line opening is a realization of a promise kept to our riders and our region," said Lee.

Other Article

Trinity Metro Builds Focus on Transit-Oriented Developments

fortworthreport.org

Trinity Metro is getting into the economic development business.

The Fort Worth transit agency is hiring a director of economic development, a new management position, to develop strategies for transit-oriented developments near train stations and key transit corridors. The job was posted in mid-August.

“We have seven train stations in Fort Worth with an eighth on the way in the Medical District,”

Rich Andreski, president and CEO of Trinity Metro, told the Fort Worth Report. “Each one of them has enormous potential to be something more than a parking lot.”

Grapevine’s TEXRail station, he said, is the agency’s model.

“Anybody who’s been to Grapevine will see the beautiful Vin hotel, a mixed-used development with Harvest Hall and a food court, and entertainment events going on there just about every night of the week,”

Andreski said. “They’ve really shown what can be. We want to realize some of that potential here in Fort Worth.”

Don’t Hamper Texas High-Speed Rail Any Further

dallasnews.com

Opinion

Texas lawmakers in Washington should stop a House proposal that could unwisely limit high-speed rail’s future possibilities in our state.

A House appropriations bill contains a provision that would prohibit federal dollars from being used on a high-speed rail project that is “the same or substantially similar” to the Texas Central Railway project intended to connect Dallas and Houston.

The North Central Texas Council of Governments’ 45-member Regional Transportation Council voted last month to send a letter to representatives urging them to oppose the provision. They should listen to our local leaders.

No one expects the government to foot the whole bill if the project ever comes to fruition, but it’s important to leave the possibility of a private-public partnership on the table. A roughly 90-minute connection between two of the nation’s busiest population hubs could carry big economic benefits.

The language in the House proposal might have consequences beyond the Dallas to Houston line.

$240M Mixed-Use Addison Development Tied to New DART Line Gets Thumbs Up

dallasnews.com

A $240 million mixed-use project planned near the Addison Circle Silver Line DART station has received key approval from city leaders.

The Addison City Council approved a development agreement with Dallas-based Quadrant Investment Properties for the Addison Junction project.

The 14-acre district will include a more than 155,000 square foot timber office building, a 140-room boutique hotel, 30,000 square feet of entertainment space, and The Hangar — a 12,000 square foot aviation-inspired event venue.

Restaurants, Texas-themed beer garden Van Buren’s, rooftop patios and public plazas will help link the development to Addison Circle Park and the Cotton Belt Trail Corridor, part of the 57-mile regional hike-and-bike system.

Phase one of the project will be 30,000 square feet of entertainment-focused retail that includes the beer garden and a farmer’s market.

Trinity Metro Makes Adjustments to Bus Route to Alliance Town Center

communityimpact.com

Trinity Metro has announced changes to bus route schedules.

The transit agency currently offers 20 different routes, but one route will be eliminated once the changes become effective Sept. 28, according to a news release.

One of the changes will be on bus route No. 16, which starts at Mercantile Center Station, 4233 N. Beach St. in Fort Worth and goes to Alliance Town Center.

These changes include early start times, and the final routes end about three hours earlier, according to the transit agency.

The new schedule is:

Weekdays: 4:42 a.m. to 8:12 p.m. to Mercantile Center Station from Alliance Town Center; 5:11 a.m. to 7:41 p.m. from Mercantile Center Station to Alliance Town Center
Weekends: 6:12 a.m. to 9:12 p.m. to Mercantile Center Station from Alliance Town Center; 6:41 a.m. to 8:41 p.m. to Alliance Town Center from Mercantile Center Station

The current schedule from Mercantile Center Station to Alliance Town Center:

Monday to Friday, 4:57 a.m. to 11:22 p.m.
Saturday, 6:27 a.m. to 11:22 p.m.
Sunday, 6:27 a.m. to 10:22 p.m.

Buses run every 30 minutes, according to the Trinity Metro website.

What happened to Dallas’ Public Transit Network of the 1930s? Curious Texas Investigates

dallasnews.com

Once home to 300 streetcars and an interurban rail system, Dallas traded transit for highways and cars. Now, as the city grows, residents and experts wonder how to bring that system back.

At around 7 a.m. on a recent morning, the Green Dragon emerged from McKinney Avenue Transit Authority’s trolley barn in Uptown.

Throughout the day, the vintage trolley will travel on the same tracks that were once part of Dallas’ vast streetcar network. The car will ferry locals and visitors alike between landmarks like West Village, the Dallas Museum of Art and the Winspear Opera House.

Today, Dallas’ public transit system looks very different from a century ago. MATA offers a nostalgic glimpse into that past, but it also underscores how much of the city’s streetcar network has vanished — and how far the modern network is from it.

The state of the city and the region’s public transit system prompted Courtney Hunter to ask Curious Texas: What happened to our extensive public transportation system of the early 1900s? And why is it so difficult to restore what we once had?

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