DART board confirms Orange Line connection to Dallas-Fort Worth Airport

by PegNews wire

The final section of the DART Rail Orange Line will connect to Terminal A at DFW International Airport in December 2013. The Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) Board of Directors made the decision following a staff recommendation for direct terminal access from the future Belt Line Station on airport property.

Construction on the first two sections of the Orange Line, from the future Bachman Station in northwest Dallas to Las Colinas and then to Belt Line Station, began earlier this year. The sections are scheduled to open in December 2011 and 2012 respectively. A contract for the final section to the airport is scheduled to be awarded next year.

The Board vote also adds a future light rail connection from the Orange Line to the Cotton Belt, a DART-owned rail line that crosses through airport property north of SH 114. This would provide additional rail access to the airport. Information on the Orange Line is available at www.DART.org/factsheet/orangeline.

DART owns 52 miles of the Cotton Belt, presently in use as a freight rail line, between the Collin County city of Wylie and Fort Worth. DART's long-range plan is to connect the Red Line in the Plano/Richardson area to DFW Airport in 2027. The Fort Worth T currently has plans to operate rail service by 2013 on the western half of the Cotton Belt between Fort Worth and the airport as part of their Southwest/Northeast project. DART and the T are also exploring a public private partnership to accelerate the start of Cotton Belt passenger rail service. Information on the Cotton Belt project is available at www.DART.org/cottonbeltppp.

Source: DART

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Pavel Lishin says:

I'd be more excited about this if it were possible to use public transit to go to Downtown and back without having to leave at 10pm to catch the last bus back to Addison.

Seriously, I'm trying to start driving less, and wanted to start by going to The Pearl tonight via bus, but the last bus departs the area at 10:15, meaning that I'd probably have to leave the bar before Yost wrapped up his set or catch the cab home. :(

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5 months ago
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John McClelland says:

I think we would all think about using mass transit more if it were convenient, but I doubt many of these projects are based on convenience. They seem to put economic development first over convenience.

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5 months ago
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Pavel Lishin says:

I was wondering last night - all of the people having to work two jobs, or night jobs - many of them immigrants, some of them illegal - how do they get around?

If they get off work at midnight, there's no way they can use public transportation to get home. If they're working low-paying jobs, they might not be able to afford car insurance, and decide instead to just go without.

Really wondering how many of those damned insurance-less people just waiting to ram me in the street and drive off don't have an alternative to doing so (aside from working more to cover insurance, or moving elsewhere, or just flat going home.)