DART Light Rail
DART Light Rail is the light rail system serving the metropolitan area of Dallas, Texas and is owned and operated by Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART). The DART Light Rail system opened June 14, 1996 and serves 65 stations and four lines, covering 93 miles (149.7 km): the Blue Line, the Red Line, the Green Line, and the Orange Line.
In 2023, the system had a ridership of 21,380,900, or about 71,700 per weekday as of the fourth quarter of 2023. That makes it the
The system uses the Kinki Sharyo SLRV ("Super Light Rail Vehicle") and the fleet of 163 vehicles was modified in the 2000s to add level boarding and higher passenger capacity.[7]
The following lines are active:
- Blue Line (opened in 1996, completed in its current state in 2016)
- Red Line (opened in 1996, completed in its current state in 2002)
- Green Line (opened in 2009, completed in its current state in 2010)
- Orange Line (opened in 2010, completed in its current state in 2021)
History
Planning
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DART's initial plans called for 160 miles (257.5 km) of commuter rail. The election plan was pared down to 147 miles (236.6 km) when
Starter system
After years of scandals involving finances, delays in construction of the rail system, a failed bond election, and nine pull-out votes (two of which were successful), October 1990 was a turning point for the agency, when DART first broke ground on its light rail system. The first sections of track were laid in July 1993.[8] In June 1996, the light rail system began service on time and on budget[9] inaugurating the first light rail system in Texas. Commuter rail service to Irving began in December, after some delays.
To the surprise of critics, the new light rail system was embraced by Dallasites, with ridership exceeding expectations. The suburbs' confidence in DART was also expressed at the ballot box: four cities held highly publicized pullout elections in 1996 (with the financial assistance of Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones who wanted DART's half-cent sales tax revenue for Texas Stadium in Irving, the Cowboys' home at the time[10]), but all four voted to remain in DART (three of them by margins of more than two-to-one).
The 20 miles (32 km) starter system opened on June 14, 1996,
The next stage of the starter line opened on January 10, 1997 when the
The starter line was completed when the
The final change to the starter system came on December 18, 2000, when DART opened
Commuter rail on the old
Suburban expansion
After the success of the light rail starter system, voters approved DART's request to use long-term bonds to expedite the construction of the regional light rail system. While DART had originally planned single-track extensions of the Blue Line to Garland and the Red Line to Richardson and Plano, the starter system was so popular that the agency made plans to double-track the entire route.
Work began on the extensions of both the
The first extension of the Red Line opened on July 1, 2002, when the line was extended 7 stations north from a newly rebuilt
The Blue Line was completed to Garland on November 18, 2002, making it the second suburb to get light rail service. The two new stations of
The final stage of north-central and northeast "suburban" light rail expansion opened six months ahead of schedule when the Red Line extension to
2030 Plan
In October 2006, the DART Board of Directors unanimously approved a long-term "2030 Plan", which included the following proposals for its next round of rail expansion:[15]
- A 2.9-mile (4.7 km) light rail extension of the Interstate 20 to a new SouthPortintermodal port in southeast Dallas.
- A 4.3-mile (6.9 km) light rail extension of the Red Line south to Red Bird Lane.
- A 4.3-mile (6.9 km) light rail extension of the Orange Line along Scyene Road to approximately Masters Drive. The line would branch off the Green Line east of Lawnview Avenue.
- A 6-mile (10 km) light rail line in West Dallas along Fort Worth Avenue or Singleton to Loop 12/Jefferson Boulevard. No color designation was given for this planned line.
- A station for the LBJ/Skillman Station. This area previously opposed rail service, so the tracks were built through the area without a station. Lake Highlands opened on December 6, 2010, becoming the first component of the 2030 plan to be completed and the first infill station in DART's system.[16] This is a key component of the new Lake Highlands Town Center TOD development.[17]
- A nearly 26-mile (42 km) DFW International Airport. This line would provide rail service to the bus transfer station in Addison and would intersect the Green Lineat Downtown Carrollton Station.
The final 2030 plan included several changes from the draft plan released in July 2006. Removed from the final plan was a 6.3-mile (10.1 km) branch of the
The Cotton Belt corridor plans continued to generate controversy right up to the day of the vote on the 2030 plan. DART leaned toward diesel powered commuter rail for the Cotton Belt corridor, similar to the Trinity Railway Express. However, the line would pass through affluent Far North Dallas neighborhoods, which formed the Cotton Belt Concerned Coalition to fight the line in 1990. The group lobbied for electric light rail vehicles on the line to avoid perceived air and noise pollution associated with diesel rail, and also proposed that the line be placed in a below-ground trench. These proposals were accepted by the City of Dallas in June 2006 in a unanimous resolution. DART, however, balked at the cost of trenching the line, which they estimated at $250 million. This set up a confrontation between DART and the city of Dallas, which appoints eight of the board's 15 members. The final plan compromised by promising $50 million "to help address neighborhood concerns".[18]
The current Cotton Belt freight corridor runs just south of the Downtown Plano station on the Red Line, but DART maps of the 2030 plan indicated that the commuter rail line would run to the nearby Bush Turnpike station, the nearest station to the south of downtown Plano.[19] The Cotton Belt line would run through former DART member city Coppell between Carrollton and DFW Airport; although no station locations are included in the plan, the promise of a future station could entice Coppell, which withdrew from DART in 1989, into rejoining the agency.
In 2010, citing deficits and drops in revenue, DART scrapped much of their 2030 plan.[20]
Green and Orange Line expansion
On July 3, 2006, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) approved a US$700 million Full Funding Grant Agreement (FFGA) — the largest grant ever awarded to DART — to kick-start a US$2.5 billion expansion of the light rail system. This phase included two new light rail lines that doubled DART's light rail mileage.[21] Construction began in September 2006. Upon completion of the project in 2013, the size of DART's light rail system doubled to 90 miles (145 km).[22]
In maps before 2006, DART labeled the Pleasant Grove to Carrollton route the "Orange Line", and the Irving route was the "Purple Line". Green was generally used on DART maps to denote the route of the Trinity Railway Express. By the time construction started, DART was using the new Green Line designation as part of its marketing efforts, saying "Like the color green, this line is a symbol of our city on the move."[23]
The
The Green Line's northern end connects with the
The second line, the
Downtown Dallas (D2) Transit Study
In 2007, DART recognized that with Blue and Red Line trains sharing tracks through the Dallas Central Business District corridor, and the Orange and Green Lines also using this trunk segment through downtown, a single alignment would not have the capacity to support all four rail lines. Under a 1990 agreement with the City of Dallas, DART agreed to build a second rail alignment through downtown once certain operating or ridership figures were met, and DART projected that it would hit these targets by the early 2010s. As a result, DART commissioned its Downtown Dallas Transit Study, known as the D2 Study, to study the possibility of building a second rail alignment through downtown.[29]
In spring 2008, DART announced it had considered 16 possible plans for a second rail alignment, and selected four for more detailed consideration. All four proposals provided for an alignment between
After a three-year hiatus, DART announced on February 6, 2013 that it would begin holding public hearings on "Phase II" of the D2 study, to discuss alternatives and refinements to its D2 options since it ended "Phase I" of the D2 study in 2010.[31] At a public hearing on February 13, 2013, DART announced it was expanding to consider eight possible D2 alignments, some of which would connect to Union Station instead of Victory Station and thus provide Red and Blue Line service.[32] While the D2 Study is being funded by a $700,000 grant, the $500 million to $1 billion alignment is unfunded, and construction is not expected to begin before 2025.[32]
In August 2015, the Dallas City Council voted to only recommend an alignment above-ground along Jackson Street, over the objections of DART officials, who requested the addition of a Young Street route as a fallback. The alignment along Young Street was opposed by the First Presbyterian Church of Dallas, as the light rail would run through its property.[33] However, the church and local residents, along with structural issues (the local library would have to be demolished, and many historic buildings would be close to or within the path of the line), helped to form an opposition to the new Jackson locally preferred alternative (LPA). Due to this, the City of Dallas voted against the Jackson alignment and instead for the alignment to be in a subway for the majority of its time in downtown.[34] This led DART to have to reconsider the alignment, and also balance funding for the Silver Line, which created tension between supporters of both rail lines, who believed that only one of the two could be built.[35] However, DART eventually voted in favor of eventually funding the Cotton Belt and D2.[36]
DART is considering three alignments, all of which are underground for a majority of their routes. A decision was intended to be made by 2018 as to which route will be pitched to the FTA, although city leaders in 2017 had endorsed the Commerce subway route (along with a downtown streetcar design) to move forward into consideration.[37] A preferred alignment was chosen by DART and the city of Dallas in 2022; all stakeholders in the project agreed on this preferred alternative for the first time in the project's history.[38]
The D2 subway project was quietly removed from DART's long-term financial plan in July 2023. DART will instead use debt capacity intended for the D2 subway to improve the current system, including new trains, signal upgrades, and reliability and cleanliness improvements. The agency intends to explore alternatives to increase capacity in downtown Dallas and methods to increase ridership across the system.[39]
Platform extensions
To allow for more capacity the "platform extensions" will be completed before tunneling on the D2 corridor starts. This project allows for three-car trains during rush hour. There are 28 stations on the red and blue line that will be rebuilt at an estimated cost of $129 million. The planning for the platform extensions started in 2014 and the construction was approved in 2017. Regular operation of three-car trains is expected for 2022.[40] In March 2018 the contract was awarded to Lockwood, Andrews & Newnam (LAN).[41] Construction started in July 2019 to be finished in August 2022.[42]
Apart from capacity the project allows for barrier-free access to trains even on the oldest lines of the network. The platforms will be raised to the 15.5 inches (40 cm) floor height of the low-floor middle section of the SLRV trains. This concept allows to get half of the funding from the Teax Mobility Funds. Almost another half of the funding comes from federal resources leaving mostly the planning costs to DART, which is below ten million.
The project has accordingly two phases. In the first phase the platforms are raised by 7.5 inches (20 cm) on their existing length. In the second phase the platforms are extended from their original 300 feet (91 m) to accommodate long trains. A common street-level station will have side platforms of 450 feet (140 m) length with a raised boarding area of 385 feet (117 m). At each end crossings and ramps are built.[43]
The Orange and Green Lines had been constructed to that standard from the beginning. However they could not use that length in regular operation.[44] The platform extensions were part of the initial planning of system with reserved space on each station since the 1980s.[44] However, this concept was expecting a possibility of four-car trains with the LRV type vehicles of the time. The newer SRLV have that length with three-car trains already. The raised and underground stations had been constructed at 400 feet (120 m) from the beginning but it is a higher effort to rebuild them to a raised platform in the first phase due to existing stairs.
Current lines
Blue Line
The
Red Line
The
Green Line
The
Orange Line
The
Operation
The DART light rail system operates seven days a week from 4:30 a.m. to 12:30 a.m.[45] On each individual line, service operates Monday through Friday every 15 minutes during commute periods and every 20 minutes middays and early evening, while operating every 30 minutes after approximately 10 p.m. On Saturday and Sunday, service operates every 20 minutes between 9 a.m. and 8 p.m., and every 30 minutes early morning and at night. Portions of the system have headways cut in half where at least two lines share rail tracks, with all four lines which converge in downtown Dallas along the Pacific Avenue/Bryan Street corridor commanding headways of 3.5 minutes at the most to 5–7 minutes at the least.
Accidents and incidents
- On March 1, 2014 one person died after a train and a car collided.[46]
- On May 15, 2014, six people and one crew member were injured after a train collided with a flatbed truck in Farmer's Branch.[47]
- On June 30, 2014 a man died after an accident at Bachman Station.[48]
- On December 19, 2020 two people were injured after a derailment in Downtown Dallas.[49]
- On October 16, 2021 a person died after being hit by a train near the Farmers Branch station.[50]
See also
- List of DART Light Rail stations
- Dallas Streetcar
- McKinney Avenue Transit Authority
- Light rail in the United States
- List of United States light rail systems by ridership
- List of tram and light rail transit systems
References
- ^ "Transit Ridership Report Fourth Quarter 2023" (PDF). American Public Transportation Association. March 4, 2024. Retrieved March 14, 2024.
- ^ "Transit Ridership Report Fourth Quarter 2023" (PDF). American Public Transportation Association. March 4, 2024. Retrieved March 14, 2024.
- ^ a b "DART History". DART.org. Dallas Area Rapid Transit. 2013. Retrieved July 23, 2013.
- ^ a b "Facts about Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART)". Dallas Area Rapid Transit. February 26, 2013. Retrieved July 23, 2013.
- ^ PETER SIMEK (July 2016). "DART Might Destroy Downtown Dallas". D Magazine. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
In a peer-to-peer comparison study compiled by a Chicago-based transit agency, Dallas ranked at or near the bottom in terms of passenger trips, operating cost per mile, and fare recovery rate among 10 major U.S. cities. In terms of total miles ridden by passengers, the longest light rail system in the country came in dead last.
- ^ "The 10 U.S. Metro rail systems that lose the most money per passenger". November 30, 2001.
- ^ "Super Light Rail Vehicles (SLRV) Facts". DART.org.
- ISSN 0160-6913.
- ^ Kelley, Chris (June 16, 1996). "Last original staffer delivered train on time, within budget". The Dallas Morning News. p. 31A.
- ^ "Keep DART in Irving". Dallas Business Journal. July 21, 1996.
- ^ a b "Dallas Light Rail". Archived from the original on August 1, 2010. Retrieved September 16, 2010.
- ^ "Dallas: Light Rail Rolls into Garland, as Plano Gets Ready". Light Rail Progress. November 17, 2002. Retrieved April 12, 2013.
- ^ "DART completes Red Line extension six months ahead of schedule". Progressive Railroading. November 27, 2002. Retrieved April 12, 2013.
- ^ "Dallas: Modern Light Rail Rolls into Plano". Light Rail Progress. December 9, 2002. Retrieved April 12, 2013.
- ^ "Final DART 2030 System Plan" (PDF). DART.org. October 2006.
- ^ "Blue Line Lake Highlands Station". DART.org. Archived from the original on November 25, 2010. Retrieved November 27, 2010.
- ^ "Lake Highlands". Lakehighlandstowncenter.com. June 23, 2011. Archived from the original on July 24, 2012. Retrieved June 13, 2012.
- ^ Hartzel, Tony (October 25, 2006). "DART green-lights 40 miles of new rail for 2030". dallasnews.com. Dallas Morning News. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007.
- ^ "DART Transit System Plan Map". DART.org. October 26, 2006.
- ^ a b Lindenberger, Michael (April 28, 2010). "Money woes will force DART to cut jobs, rail plans". dallasnews.com. Dallas Morning News. Archived from the original on May 28, 2013. Retrieved April 12, 2013.
- ^ "DART Southeast Corridor construction under way". DART.org (Press release). September 5, 2006. Archived from the original on September 23, 2006. Retrieved June 13, 2012.
- ^ "DART Expansion Plans". DART.org. Archived from the original on October 8, 2006. Retrieved June 13, 2012.
- ^ "About DART". DART.org. Archived from the original on June 14, 2011. Retrieved September 16, 2010.
- ^ Solis, Dianne (June 10, 2009). "Officials reshaping downtown Carrollton around light-rail hopes". Dallas Morning News. Retrieved June 10, 2009.[dead link]
- ^ Peterson, Matt (June 20, 2011). "A-train railway begins rolling, carrying commuters from Denton to Carrollton". The Dallas Morning News. Archived from the original on July 1, 2011. Retrieved June 20, 2011.
- ^ "Northwest Corridor LRT Line to Farmers Branch and Carrollton Final Environmental Impact Statement". DART.org. Archived from the original on December 20, 2004.
- ^ "Facts: Orange Line". DART.org. Retrieved April 11, 2013.
- ^ "DFW Airport Station triggers several DART train, bus changes". dallasnews.com. Dallas Morning News. July 28, 2014. Archived from the original on August 13, 2014. Retrieved August 13, 2014.
- ^ "Downtown Dallas Transit Study Newsletter, Fall 2007". DART.org. Retrieved April 12, 2013.
- ^ "Downtown Dallas Transit Study Newsletter, Spring, 2008". DART.org. Retrieved April 12, 2013.
- ^ Wilonsky, Robert (February 6, 2013). "Dallas Area Rapid Transit announces public meeting (for next week!) to discuss long-delayed second downtown rail line". dallasnews.com Transportation Blog. Dallas Morning News. Archived from the original on February 10, 2013. Retrieved April 12, 2013.
- ^ a b Benning, Tom (February 14, 2013). "DART takes another look at second downtown Dallas line, even though project remains a long ways off". dallasnews.com Transportation Blog. Dallas Morning News. Archived from the original on March 20, 2013. Retrieved April 12, 2013.
- ^ Formby, Brandon (August 24, 2015). "Dallas officials zero in on Jackson Street route for new DART tracks". The Dallas Morning News. Archived from the original on August 26, 2015. Retrieved August 26, 2015.
- ^ "With its Vote Against the Cotton Belt and For a Subway, Is Dallas Finally Ready to Take Public Transit Seriously?". D Magazine. October 11, 2016.
- ^ "DART Meeting Shows Division Between D2 and Cotton Belt". Dallas Observer. September 7, 2016.
- ^ "DART votes to fund both downtown subway and suburban rail". The Dallas Morning News. October 25, 2016.
- ^ "City Council Endorses Downtown DART Subway Alignment". D Magazine. September 13, 2017.
- ^ Goodman, Matt (October 22, 2021). "DART Adjusts Planned Subway Line So It Won't Surface in Deep Ellum". D Magazine. Retrieved December 11, 2023.
- ^ Goodman, Matt (August 15, 2023). "Downtown Dallas Subway 'D2' Is No Longer Part of DART's Long-Term Plans". D Magazine. Retrieved December 11, 2023.
- ^ "DART Red and Blue Lines Platform Extensions". DART.org. Retrieved February 28, 2019.
- ^ "DART awards Red and Blue Line Platform extension contract". Railway Technology. March 5, 2018.
- ^ "Construction begins to extend platforms at DART Red and Blue Line stations". Mass Transit Mag. July 26, 2019.
- ^ "Raising the Bar: Platform Extensions – Getting ready for three-car trains". DART Daily. December 4, 2018. Archived from the original on January 30, 2019.
- ^ a b "Raising the Bar: Platform Extensions". DART Daily. November 20, 2018. Archived from the original on January 28, 2019.
- ^ "DART Schedules". DART.org.
- ^ Hernandez, Dulce (March 1, 2014). "One Killed When DART Train, Car Collide". NBC. Retrieved December 19, 2021.
- ^ "7 injured in Farmers Branch DART crash, tracks will be ready for Friday morning service". Dallas News. May 16, 2014. Retrieved February 27, 2023.
- ^ "Man dies in DART light rail accident at Dallas' Bachman Station". The Dallas Morning News. July 2, 2014. Retrieved December 19, 2021.
- ^ "2 Injured in DART Train Derailment in Downtown Dallas". NBC. December 19, 2020. Retrieved December 19, 2021.
- ^ Prosser, Maggie (October 18, 2021). "Person fatally struck by DART train in northwest Dallas". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved December 19, 2021.