DART Style, High Speed Rail, and TEXRail Turns 5!

News & Updates

January 19, 2024 Issue

DART rides in Style This Year with Erykah Badu-Inspired Buses, Trains

dallasnews.com

Can we get a window seat? Dallas Area Rapid Transit is rolling into the new year with Dallas icon Erykah Badu.

The Grammy Award-winning neo-soul singer has partnered with DART on a set of Badu-inspired buses and trains. Three buses and two trains will be adorned with artwork and images of Badu and will be seen throughout North Texas from Feb. 24 until the end of the year.

Fort Worth Area Looks to Score Transit Win Ahead of 2026 FIFA World Cup

fortworthreport.org

Fort Worth area agencies are getting the ball rolling on transit initiatives in preparation for the upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Regional officials, led by the North Central Texas Council of Governments, have been in conversation since early 2023, exploring both traditional and novel modes of transportation to get visitors to AT&T Stadium in Arlington to watch the biggest sporting event in the world.

While preparations are still underway, some investment options have been identified.

In Fort Worth, those World Cup-related transit investments include upgrades to the Trinity Railway Express CentrePort Station such as rider amenities and improved signage. It also includes TRE train replacements and upgrades. This effort will be led by the Dallas Area Rapid Transit, which co-owns TRE with Trinity Metro and is seeking $30 million in grant funding to accomplish it.

Branching Out: Collin County Rides Service From DCTA to Start Feb. 1

crosstimbersgazette.com

Denton County Transportation Authority provides transit services including A-train, Connect bus, Access paratransit and on-demand rideshare services for communities across the county, including Denton, Lewisville and Highland Village. But did you know DCTA also provides services outside Denton County?

In fact, DCTA operates services such as Commuter Vanpool, a system of motorist-driven vans serving employees across several counties, and Frisco Demand Response, a transit service for the elderly and disabled that has served the city of Frisco and parts of Plano in Collin County since 2015.

After 34 years, Texas Might Finally Get a High-Speed Rail Line between Dallas and Houston

fastcompany.com

Dallas and Houston are two of the country’s largest cities, separated by just 240 miles. But despite the fact that Texans regularly make the journey, there hasn’t been any innovation on the route in years. A high-speed rail project aims to change that by using Japanese technology to power 200-mile-per-hour trains.

Texas Central, a private company, launched the project with significant backing from Texas investors in 2014. It planned to connect North Texas to Houston with a stop in the Brazos Valley near Texas A&M University. The train would reduce the hours-long drive to 90 minutes between the state’s two biggest cities, and represented the most advanced effort toward Texas high-speed rail since a failed project in the 1990s. However, as the pandemic wreaked havoc on the transportation industry, many thought the project was doomed.

That is until recently, when two key developments breathed new life into the project. Amtrak entered the picture as a potential partner in August, and then the project won a $500,000 Corridor ID grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to develop a scope of work and budget.

Transit Briefs: CTA, TEXRail

railwayage.com

Trinity Metro’s TEXRail marked five years of service Jan. 10 allowing customers to ride free. The 27-mile commuter rail line, which opened in 2019, runs eight trains between Fort Worth and Dallas Fort Worth International Airport’s Terminal B. The route has nine stations in Fort Worth, North Richland Hills and Grapevine.

TEXRail line construction began in August 2016, and the $996 million project was funded with the aid of a $44.9-million Full Funding Grant Agreement from the Federal Transit Administration. Fort Worth Transportation Authority awarded Stadler a $106.7 million contract in June 2015 to supply eight four-car Flirt 3 DMUs, which were assembled at Stadler’s plant in Salt Lake City, Utah. Each 266-foot-long articulated train accommodates 488 passengers, 229 of them seated, with four sets of doors on each side. Signaling, telecommunications, and a command-and-control center were supplied by Wabtec under a $97 million deal signed in early 2017.

Transit Coalition of North Texas

TransitNorthTexas.org