Dallas Fort Worth Urban Forum

Plano receives 16,000 feet of additional rail for DART Silver Line construction

Sixteen thousand feet of rail — 200 sections, each one 80 feet long — recently arrived in Plano for DART’s Silver.

The rails were delivered Dec. 18 on a special train from Steel Dynamics of Indiana to an area east of Shiloh Road, according to the city.

The shipment is in addition to 1,600-foot sections of rail that were delivered in November.

https://www.dallasnews.com/news/transpo ... struction/

So at at one press release per 1,600 feet for 26 miles it looks like we have another 84 press releases to go....

Hannibal Lecter wrote:Plano receives 16,000 feet of additional rail for DART Silver Line construction

Sixteen thousand feet of rail — 200 sections, each one 80 feet long — recently arrived in Plano for DART’s Silver.

The rails were delivered Dec. 18 on a special train from Steel Dynamics of Indiana to an area east of Shiloh Road, according to the city.

The shipment is in addition to 1,600-foot sections of rail that were delivered in November.

https://www.dallasnews.com/news/transpo ... struction/

So at at one press release per 1,600 feet for 26 miles it looks like we have another 84 press releases to go....

LOL Slow news month?

Seriously, lol.
But, meanwhile e.g. Addison, pops in the FAA files for a ridiculous number of requests for very small height requests for construction of the line. So, maybe the News can have something to go with as a change-up.

Hannibal Lecter wrote:Plano receives 16,000 feet of additional rail for DART Silver Line construction

Sixteen thousand feet of rail — 200 sections, each one 80 feet long — recently arrived in Plano for DART’s Silver.

The rails were delivered Dec. 18 on a special train from Steel Dynamics of Indiana to an area east of Shiloh Road, according to the city.

The shipment is in addition to 1,600-foot sections of rail that were delivered in November.

https://www.dallasnews.com/news/transpo ... struction/

So at at one press release per 1,600 feet for 26 miles it looks like we have another 84 press releases to go....

oh god kill me now

I'm sure that DART has experienced and competent engineers and designers working on the project are, but their public relations/media people are...yikes. I've seen middle schoolers give better presentations that DART staff...

itsjrd1964 wrote:Plano City Council OKs permits to allow DART transit stations along 12th Street

https://communityimpact.com/dallas-fort ... th-street/

So, the 12th Street light rail station will be Dart's first elevated station with side platforms. A center platform would have required rebuilding one of the bridges to make room for a center platform.

The stranger idea is to place the Silver Line station at K Ave., a block east of the light rail station. I do not see many transfers here since the tracks will be adjacent at the Bush Station.

Redblock wrote:

itsjrd1964 wrote:Plano City Council OKs permits to allow DART transit stations along 12th Street

https://communityimpact.com/dallas-fort ... th-street/

So, the 12th Street light rail station will be Dart's first elevated station with side platforms. A center platform would have required rebuilding one of the bridges to make room for a center platform.

The stranger idea is to place the Silver Line station at K Ave., a block east of the light rail station. I do not see many transfers here since the tracks will be adjacent at the Bush Station.

Pipe dream, I know, but since they were already adding side platforms, it would have been cool to see an "Express/Local" layout with another set of tracks that would allow some express trains to bypass this station and leapfrog local trains, which could have a longer layover at 12th street to reduce the likelihood of missed Red <-> Silver connections.

This would of course require a larger program of station expansion to build additional "leapfrog" points (probably at LBJ Central and Lovers Lane, but I'd need to look at timetables/travel time/speed limits to be sure), so express trains can actually have a travel time advantage over driving on US75.

DART has released the June-August Silver Line Update. The interesting part is the 90 day construction schedules for the various cities. Scroll below the map in the link below and tap the different cities for a schedule grid for the quarter.

In short, by the end of August all the stations will be in some level of construction and many of the bridges/overpasses will begin construction.

https://www.dart.org/about/expansion/si ... nstruction

I'll be curious to see what the ridership looks like for the UTD station. UTD is a heavy user of DART buses, but that's more for the immediate area. I wonder if there will be similar demand for larger trips.

They have blocked off the bicycle path that will form the path for the Central Expressway and river crossing at G Bush and Alma and have heavy equipment on site. The bike path will be moved to the south, close to the apartments, at some point.

Per DMN, Silver Line opening has been pushed back (again) to 2024. Not sure why, because the article's behind a paywall.

Addison wrote:Per DMN, Silver Line opening has been pushed back (again) to 2024. Not sure why, because the article's behind a paywall.

CTroyMathis helped me get access to the article.

So it's nothing drastic or unusual. They're making minor design changes based on resident feedback, and they also had some minor issuss with land acquisition as well as agreements with freight operators.

Came here expecting to hear that another batch of rail was delivered...boo!!

^El oh el.

DART has a bridge to sell you. For $1.

https://dartdaily.dart.org/posts/post/f ... las-county

Near Keller Springs Park: 32.965700, -96.810881

OrangeMike wrote:DART has a bridge to sell you. For $1.

https://dartdaily.dart.org/posts/post/f ... las-county

Near Keller Springs Park: 32.965700, -96.810881

I thought the plan was to move the old bridge over a few feet and convert it to pedestrian use? So much for that I guess.

northsouth wrote:I thought the plan was to move the old bridge over a few feet and convert it to pedestrian use? So much for that I guess.

Someone asked about that. The DART rep said they couldn't do that because it was too narrow for emergency vehicles.

I'm working on the trail portion of this project and the old bridge was too narrow to be used as multi-use trail without significant structural modification. The intent was to reuse it but after looking at different options it was determined it needs to be replaced with a new, wider bridge.

DART has some equipment on-site and some bare dirt pads on each side of US 75 where the Silver Line rail bridge will pass over US75.

The_Overdog wrote:DART has some equipment on-site and some bare dirt pads on each side of US 75 where the Silver Line rail bridge will pass over US75.

There's not as much visible on the west side of US 75, but much more can be seen to the east. Several bridge support pillars are in the process of being placed there. The 2 pictures show the bridge pillar work east of US 75 and west of the CityLine/Bush station. (That station has dirt work ongoing for its part of the Silver Line, but I wasn't able to get a good pic there--hopefully I can try again soon.)

itsjrd1964 wrote:Dallas city manager calls for enhanced safety measures for DART's new silver line

https://www.fox4news.com/news/dallas-ci ... ilver-line

That's good to hear. It seems like there is an effort to try and change the negative perceptions of DART with this new Silver line. Increased security measures, and they are really leaning into the "Silver Line" branding rather than just calling it another DART rail line.

Hopefully it works and more people start getting introduced to DART via this new line.

itsjrd1964 wrote:Dallas city manager calls for enhanced safety measures for DART's new silver line

https://www.fox4news.com/news/dallas-ci ... ilver-line

First of all, this should have been brought up during the planning phase, not when the project is already half way done. The projected completion has already been delayed twice, and this will only delay it further (making it more expensive).

Second, all Cara Mendelsohn has been doing is making bad faith arguments in an effort to stop the Silver Line from being built altogether. Her constituents built/bought homes in this part of the city knowing darn well a rail line cut through the middle of it, plans were in the works to convert it to passsnger use and it was just as dagerous to pedestrians when it only served freight carts. If she was so concerned about pedestrian safety as she claims, she would be fighting equally as hard for improved sidewalks, bike lanes, upzoning and road diets in her district (spoiler: she's not).

The fact that her so-called concerns are being taking seriously by top officials in Dallas government is exactly why progress in this city seems so elusive.

She is right that the ridership numbers are terrible because the station locations aren't great, and the line is really jumping the line in terms of priority, but that ship sailed, and there are already railroad tracks at Meandering Way in far North Dallas, even if they are disused, so it should be a surprise to no-one that trains might run again someday through this corridor.

The_Overdog wrote:She is right that the ridership numbers are terrible because the station locations aren't great...

And that was also (in part) because of Cara Mendelsohn, who played a role in actively shooting down all the proposed stations along the line out of irrational fear of "increased crime."

But even the subject of ridership has nothing to do with pedestrian safety. It's a red herring.

DART should just do what TEXRail did with Colleyville. Fine, no stop for you, but we will still use the rail. These people act like the average human doesn't know what to do when a train is coming. Not like this is the first place in the country with a commuter rail crossing in a residential area.

Colleyville housing prices are doing ok. If these people are so scared about trains, they can sell the house in a day with the current market and move to Prosper. NIMBYs trigger me lol

Closures planned for Central Expressway in Richardson until late July

The HOV lanes on 75-Central north of Galatyn Pkwy. and south of Plano Pkwy. will close each Friday and Saturday overnight through July to build pillars for the upcoming Silver Line bridge.

https://www.wfaa.com/article/traffic/ri ... 86edc7370a

The Cotton Belt passes through a country club golf course west of Preston Road. There is a bridge across White Rock Creek in the golf course. The bridge was not useful for the double track Silver Line. The original plan was to shift the bridge north of the Cotton Belt and use it for the hike/bike trail, but the bridge would not allow passage of emergency vehicles. DART tried to find a new home for the bridge, but this report only says a section will be displayed along the Silver Line.

https://youtu.be/_oxqjMeIOqo

This was posted on the DART FB page today, June 3, 2022.

Sadler is testing the first Flirt DMU on the test track at their Salt Lake City plant.

https://www.facebook.com/DARTDallas/vid ... 106870059/

After publishing the last issue about 9 months ago, DART finally remembered they're supposed to be putting out a quarterly newsletter. Has some new construction pics in it.

https://www.dart.org/about/inmotion/spring22/4.asp

New opening date, late 2025 to mid 2026.

Now that I think about it, there’s still some parts of the line that haven’t been touched. I heard a rumor that a certain council woman was able to delay some permits. I have no idea if that’s the case.

They've only been working on Plano's 12th Street station and the track east of there to the Shiloh Road station in just the past month. The overpass over 75-Central hasn't been going very fast at all; they still don't have all the bridge pillars done yet. I figured a 2024 opening was a bit optimistic.

saxman wrote:New opening date, late 2025 to mid 2026.

Now that I think about it, there’s still some parts of the line that haven’t been touched. I heard a rumor that a certain council woman was able to delay some permits. I have no idea if that’s the case.

Do you have a source for this new timeline?

And yes, the name of that "certain council woman" is Cara Mendelsohn. We know (and talk) about her quite a bit...

Addison wrote:

saxman wrote:New opening date, late 2025 to mid 2026.

Now that I think about it, there’s still some parts of the line that haven’t been touched. I heard a rumor that a certain council woman was able to delay some permits. I have no idea if that’s the case.

Do you have a source for this new timeline?

And yes, the name of that "certain council woman" is Cara Mendelsohn. We know (and talk) about her quite a bit...

https://www.dart.org/about/project-and-initiatives/expansion/silver-line-project

They quietly changed it in their information page.

I know she loves to hate on DART, but I’d like to see if she’s actually responsible for holding up permits.

saxman wrote:

Addison wrote:

saxman wrote:New opening date, late 2025 to mid 2026.

Now that I think about it, there’s still some parts of the line that haven’t been touched. I heard a rumor that a certain council woman was able to delay some permits. I have no idea if that’s the case.

Do you have a source for this new timeline?

And yes, the name of that "certain council woman" is Cara Mendelsohn. We know (and talk) about her quite a bit...

https://www.dart.org/about/project-and-initiatives/expansion/silver-line-project

They quietly changed it in their information page.

I know she loves to hate on DART, but I’d like to see if she’s actually responsible for holding up permits.

Very disappointing.

I know a recent article mentioned 2025, but we had hoped that was a typo.

Here is a post giving some details about the delay.

https://www.texasrailadvocates.org/post ... early-2026

The bridge over US75 is placed now, at least the first parts of it.

Here is a shop tour of Stadler's Salt Lake City plant with much attention paid to DART's SilverLine Flirts. The video was made by a Toronto based transit vlogger.

https://www.facebook.com/10006348265376 ... 7S9Ucbxw6v

A sighting in Denver:
https://www.reddit.com/r/transit/comments/15nmvsy/dart_silver_line_stadler_flirts_in_denver/

These are from DART Community Discord (user: ohmy and user: DFWRP #DART40th)

Well, that's good that we're starting to get them.
Too bad there aren't sections of dedicated rail ready for them yet.

I guess they'll store them there at the TRE yard until the work to expand DCTA's yard/facility is done.

EDIT: found some pictures of the FLIRTs being moved through Saginaw yesterday. Four units; based on the pics above two of them are numbers 903 and 904, presumably 901 and 902 are the others.

https://www.railpictures.net/photo/838397/
https://www.railpictures.net/photo/838400/

The article's timing is more than a bit off. Work has been ongoing for months on the 12th St. Station near downtown Plano. Structures and platforms can clearly be seen between Ave. K and Municipal St. The crossings on Ave. K and Municipal were replaced in recent weeks. There is supposedly a closure of the Red/Orange light rail line north of the CityLine/Bush station on August 26. A shuttle will operate between CityLine/Bush, Downtown Plano, and Parker Road stations until service resumes the next day.

https://dallas.culturemap.com/news/trav ... t-station/

Are they really building the train station for 12th street in the middle of the median of Municipal and Ave K in Plano? It looks that way. That's terrible. They are both 1 way segments of a 6 lane divided road. Sorry DART riders. Also they built one apartment building across from the station and there is a small neighborhood of houses, but for the most part, this is not a residential area, so if this station is going to be used much, a lot of redevelopment is going to have to occur.

The_Overdog wrote:Are they really building the train station for 12th street in the middle of the median of Municipal and Ave K in Plano? It looks that way. That's terrible. They are both 1 way segments of a 6 lane divided road. Sorry DART riders. Also they built one apartment building across from the station and there is a small neighborhood of houses, but for the most part, this is not a residential area, so if this station is going to be used much, a lot of redevelopment is going to have to occur.

Some information: https://communityimpact.com/dallas-fort ... -stations/

They are doing some redevelopment, but they don't have a coherent plan. For example, on one side of Ave K across the freeway from CityLine, they just announced a new residential development. Directly across from it, on the other side of Ave K, they just announced a new car wash.

Per some documents for a bridge in Richardson, the parallel hike/bike trail to the SIlverline Railway will have a bridge that crosses the creek just south of the Drury Hotel, connecting directly to Cityline and the hike/bike trail will begin construction in 2024, and is expected to be completed at the same time as the railline.

The_Overdog wrote:Per some documents for a bridge in Richardson, the parallel hike/bike trail to the SIlverline Railway will have a bridge that crosses the creek just south of the Drury Hotel, connecting directly to Cityline and the hike/bike trail will begin construction in 2024, and is expected to be completed at the same time as the railline.

I wondered about that. I hadn't seen any trail construction around there other than a little bit along the stretch that will overlap or parallel (I still can't tell which) the Red/Orange lines between CityLine-Bush and 12th Street.

Current Google Streetview images from the north side of the TEXRail facility show Silverline FLIRT unit 902 on one of the storage sidings there alongside some of the TEXRail rolling stock. Image is dated Nov 2023.

https://www.google.com/maps/@32.8148253 ... ?entry=ttu

I guess this question probably should be asked in a TRE specific thread, but what are the chances of TRE rolling stock being replaced with FLIRT's to make all of the regional commuter rail a common operating platform? I thought the FLIRT's were FRA compliant, so I wouldn't expect any operating limitations on the TRE line.

In the most recent Streetview pics from southbound 161 at the TRE yard you can see the other three FLIRTs that have arrived. The most recent images from the road that runs by DCTA's maintenance facility are a year and a half old; do we have anyone here who regularly rides the A-Train who can see if they've started any work on the facility to get it ready for the FLIRTs?

My understanding is that they're aware of the idea of doing it, but the cost of it (both the new vehicles and rebuilding the platforms) is a major obstacle, especially since there's not a ton of money for the TRE to begin with.