Silver Line (DART)

"Cotton Belt Rail Line" redirects here. For the historical U.S. Class I railroad commonly known as the Cotton Belt, see St. Louis Southwestern Railway. For other uses, see Cotton Belt (disambiguation).

Silver Line
Overview
Other name(s)	Cotton Belt Rail Line
Status	Under construction
Owner	DART
Locale	Collin County, Dallas County, and Tarrant County Texas, USA
Termini	Shiloh Road Station DFW Airport/Terminal B station
Stations	10
Website	DART Silver Line
Service
Type	Hybrid rail
System	Dallas Area Rapid Transit
Services	1
Depot(s)	Trinity Railway Express Maintenance Facility
Rolling stock	8 Stadler FLIRT
Daily ridership	7,000 (estimated)
History
Planned opening	2026 (2026)
Technical
Line length	26 mi (41.84 km)
Track length	67.7 mi (108.95 km)
Number of tracks	2
Character	commuter rail on shared freight line
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Operating speed	79 mph (130 km/h) (top) ~26 mph (40 km/h) (average)
Route map Silver Line highlighted in silver Shiloh Road to Parker Road 12th Street CityLine/Bush to DFW Airport Terminal A; to Westmoreland UTD/Synergy Park Knoll Trail Addison Transit Center to Buckner Downtown Carrollton to North Carrollton to TRE Maintenance Facility Cypress Waters TEXRail to T&P Station DFW Airport North to LBJ/Central or Parker Road DFW Airport Terminal B All stations are accessible

The Silver Line, also known as the Cotton Belt Rail Line, is an under construction 26-mile (42 km) hybrid rail (light rail with some features similar to commuter rail) line traversing Collin, Dallas, and Tarrant Counties in the U.S. state of Texas operated by Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART). The line will provide service from Dallas's northeast suburbs of Plano, Richardson, and Addison to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport Terminal B.

According to DART, the Silver Line is "designed to provide a high-speed, reliable transit option for residents and commuters with connections to the existing and planned transit systems" and aims to improve transit travel times by providing an alternative to congested roadway networks.

The working name for the project, the Cotton Belt Rail Line, comes from a former subsidiary of the Southern Pacific Railroad, the St. Louis Southwestern Railway, commonly known as the Cotton Belt, which previously owned the line. DART purchased the right-of-way in 1990 for future transit use.

History

Cotton Belt logo used during planning phase

Cotton Belt service along the line has been in planning since the original 1983 DART Service Plan. DART previously bought the right-of-way to the 52-mile (84 km) Cotton Belt corridor train tracks in 1990 and freight trains had since ceased use of the tracks. The line was also included in DART's 2030 Transit System Plan. However, in 2010 DART scrapped much of their 2030 plan, citing deficits and drops in revenue. A proposal to use private funding to construct both the Dallas County and Tarrant County segments was considered, but this plan was abandoned after the Texas Legislature failed to enact legislation necessary to the plan during the 2013 state legislative session.

DART officials stated that without private funding options, the agency would not be able to build out the line until at least the mid-2030s. DART considered the possibility of using bus rapid transit as a less costly alternative for current funding.

DART announced in late August 2016 that the project could be fast tracked and completed by as early as 2022, after DART secured funds needed to complete the project.

In late August 2018, the DART board voted to accept a plan which eliminated two previously-proposed stations, reducing the number of planned stations to 10.

On February 12, 2019, the DART board approved construction of a second track along the entire length of the line, which is anticipated to reduce wait times between commuter trains, avert delays during construction and maintenance, and better accommodate freight trains using the line. This design change is projected to cost $109 million, raising the design-build contract to its maximum allowable price of $923 million.

Construction commenced in 2019 after DART secured a $908 million Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing federal loan from November 2018 to pay for most of the projected $1.1 billion cost. To cover the remainder of the line's cost, DART has asked some cities to pick up a share of the tab to help pay for the costs of stations in places where the line diverts from the freight track's path. Service was initially scheduled to begin by December 28, 2022.

On June 24, 2019, DART announced that the line would be named the Silver Line, bringing the service under the same general branding as the agency's light rail system.

By 2020 the opening had slipped to March 2023, with further delays to 2024 announced the following year.

In January 2023, further delays placed the anticipated service date in late 2025 to mid-2026.

Operations

Service would be offered seven days per week, with more frequent service during weekday morning and evening peak periods.

It is proposed that trains would operate in both directions every 30 minutes during the peak travel periods on weekdays of 6:00 am – 9:00 am and 3:00 pm – 7:00 pm and every hour during the non-peak travel periods of 9:00 am – 3:00 pm and after 7:00 pm. Service on Saturday, Sunday, and major holidays would be from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm operating in both directions every 60 minutes throughout the day.

DART 905, one of eight Silver Line FLIRT trainsets, tests at the Cityline/Bush station.

The estimated one-way travel time from DART's Shiloh Road station to the DFW Airport/Terminal B station is 60 minutes (and 59 minutes in the opposite direction). These run times include station dwell times of 30 seconds at all stations except for Downtown Carrollton, Addison Transit Center, CityLine/Bush, and 12th Street, where dwell times are one minute. Estimated travel time from the DART Orange Line CityLine/Bush station to DFW Airport Terminal A station is approximately 1.5 hours as it requires travel through downtown Dallas.

Each train will be staffed by an engineer and a conductor. To allow for flexibility of assignments with a small overall staff, engineers and conductors will be cross-trained, certified, and qualified in both areas.

Freight

As of 2018, four companies move freight along the corridor: the Fort Worth and Western Railroad; the Dallas, Garland and Northeastern Railroad; BNSF; and Kansas City Southern. The short line operations are limited to periods of non-peak passenger movements, but the Class I railroads are independently dispatched.

Planned route

Cotton Belt Rail Line Map

The Silver Line will run approximately 26 miles (42 km) between Plano to DFW International Airport.

Together, the line would connect with the Trinity Metro TEXRail commuter rail line at DFW North station providing access to Downtown Fort Worth, Grapevine, and various other Tarrant County locales.

The line would also connect with the Denton County Transportation Authority A-train commuter rail line providing access to various Denton County locales and DART's Green, Orange, and Red lines providing access to Dallas Love Field and Downtown Dallas via Downtown Carrollton or CityLine/Bush stations.

In total, the alignment will traverse through three Counties including Tarrant, Dallas, and Collin Counties and seven cities including Grapevine, Coppell, Dallas, Carrollton, Addison, Richardson, and Plano.

Stations

All stations will be designed for accessibility. There are 10 under construction stations including:

Station	Parking	Municipality	Connections and notes
Shiloh Road		Plano
12th Street			DART light rail:      Orange Line (peak-hour only service)      Red Line
CityLine/Bush		Richardson
UTD/Synergy Park			Serves University of Texas at Dallas
Knoll Trail		Dallas	Serves Prestonwood Town Center
Addison		Addison	Addison Airport
Downtown Carrollton		Carrollton	DCTA:      A-train (via Trinity Mills station) DART light rail:      Green Line
Cypress Waters		Dallas
DFW Airport North		Grapevine	Trinity Metro:      TEXRail
DFW Airport Terminal B		DFW Airport	Trinity Metro:      TEXRail DART light rail:      Orange Line (via pedestrian walkway to DFW Airport Terminal A station) Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport

Rolling stock

Stadler FLIRT for Silver Line in Salt Lake City, Utah near the Stadler factory.

Eight Stadler FLIRT (Fast Light Intercity and Regional Train) diesel multiple unit (DMU) trainsets were ordered in June 2019 to operate on the Silver Line. This will make DART the fourth transit agency in Texas to use Stadler Rail DMUs, after orders for the Denton County Transportation Authority A-train, Capital MetroRail in Austin, and TEXRail. It is the third system in the United States to use FLIRT DMUs, TEXRail being the first, and the Arrow in San Bernardino County, California, being the second.

Plans for expansion

DART-owned corridor from Parker Road station to McKinney, Texas.

An additional segment of the Cotton Belt corridor has been labeled for future expansion. Although no planning has occurred, it would extend the route from Shiloh Road in Plano to Wylie, with stations in the downtowns of Murphy and Wylie. Neither of these towns are DART member cities. The Environmental Impact Statement released in 2018 suggests that trains may eventually run along the TEXRail corridor to Fort Worth.

Another possibility for Silver Line expansion is northward. The North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG) in a 2022 meeting discussed the possibility of rail expansion beyond the current northern terminus Parker Road Station from Plano through Allen to McKinney. Either the Red Line or the Silver Line could be extended north. The study proposed seven stations between the current Parker Road Station and the hypothetical northern terminus Downtown McKinney Station. The extension would be 18 miles (29 km) long, cost between $700 million and $900 million to construct, and is estimated to have 7,000 to 8,000 riders a day by 2045.

External links

Template:Attached KML/Silver Line (DART)

KML is not from Wikidata

• DART - Silver Line Project