DART Orange Line celebrates decade of taking riders in and out of DFW Airport with direct rail service
2024年8月17日 - 7:11AM
Recent local transit conversation has focused on the Dallas Area
Rapid Transit (DART) Silver Line Regional Rail project and its
ability to connect future passengers to Terminal B at DFW Airport
once it opens for revenue service later next year or early
2026.
But did you know that
DART has been providing service to DFW Airport for a
decade?
In fact, DART was the
first transit agency in the southwestern United States to provide
direct rail service – from station to terminal – to a regional or
international airport. On Aug. 18, 2014, DART set that precedent
with its initial voyage from Terminal A at DFW Airport to downtown
Dallas.
“A transit connection to
DFW International Airport has been a component of DART’s vision
since its inception of the transit authority in 1983,” said John
Hoppie, a project manager in DART’s development department who
worked on the Orange Line extension to DFW Airport. “That was a
milestone moment for us and the Dallas area.”
The Orange Line began
service in 2010 and added stops in the City of Irving two years
later, connecting riders to the University of Dallas, Las Colinas,
Irving Convention Center, and Dallas College’s North Lake campus.
The 5-mile extension from Belt Line Station to DFW Airport brought
DART’s light-rail system to the nation’s second-busiest airport
(four months earlier than planned) and extended its service across
90 miles and 62 stations. DART opened a deferred
infill station in 2021, the Hidden Ridge Station, providing an
additional rail stop for riders to access the various retail,
entertainment, and business options in Las Colinas. Additional
infill stations, which are planned stations that can be added to
existing rail service during a later time, near Loop 12 and South
Las Colinas would bring the total number of stations on the Orange
Line to 15, keeping the trip between downtown Dallas (from the
Pearl/Arts District Station) to DFW Airport under one
hour.
There are currently over
60 Orange Line trips scheduled from the Pearl/Arts District Station
to DFW Airport during the week and 48 on the weekend. DART serves
an average of 15,500 riders daily and 8,400 per weekend on the
Orange Line.
Trinity Metro, which
shares the operation of Trinity Railway Express (TRE) between
Dallas and Fort Worth, became the second transit agency in the
southwestern United States to offer direct rail to airport service
when it began operation of the TexRail from downtown Fort Worth to
DFW Airport in 2019. DART will share station space with TexRail at
the DFW North Station in Grapevine once Silver Line opens for
revenue service, giving DFW Airport direct rail service originating
from three of the 75 largest (according to 2020 U.S. Census) cities
in the nation – Dallas, Fort Worth and Plano.
The addition of the
Silver Line will provide a second direct point of rail access to
DFW Airport, connecting riders in the northern DART service area
from its starting point in Plano with stops in Richardson, North
Dallas, Addison, Carrollton and Grapevine. DART also provides
service to Dallas Love Field Airport through the Green Line and a
dedicated bus route from the Inwood/Love Field Station to the
airport.
David Ehrlicher, DART’s
chief architect and an assistant vice president who was heavily
involved with designing the Orange Line light-rail project, said
getting the extension to DFW Airport 10 years ago was the key to
helping make everything else fall into
place.
“The Orange Line
extension to DFW Airport is important because it offered airline
passengers the opportunity to become DART customers with a
single-seat ride to downtown Dallas and other destinations
throughout the DART service area,” Ehrlicher said. “DFW Airport is
a major access point for business and recreational travelers in the
United States. By bringing direct rail service to DFW [Airport],
we’ve been giving those same travelers an easy connection to all
the Dallas area has to offer while also offering locals a
convenient way to reach their business or vacation
destination.”
To learn more about the
Orange Line or check the DART rail maps and schedule, please visit
DART Rail System.
- DART Celebrates 10 years of service to DFW Airport
Anna Kurian
Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART)
2147493800
akurian@dart.org