Presbyterian College > Academic Web Server > Jon Bell > Transit > (Cities | Types) > Dallas > Light Rail

Dallas, Texas:
DART Light Rail

Description

Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) operates a 45-mile light rail system with two regular routes:

• The Red Line runs between Westmoreland in the West Oak Cliff section of Dallas and Parker Road in the northern suburb of Plano.

• The Blue Line runs between Ledbetter in the South Oak Cliff section of Dallas and the northeastern suburb of Garland.

The two lines share tracks through downtown Dallas, running at grade along streets that have been converted to pedestrian/transit malls. Outside downtown Dallas they run on their own rights of way (some inherited from former railroads). Some sections are elevated, and there is a 3.5-mile tunnel under the Central Expressway with one deep underground station at Cityplace. Service is provided by a fleet of 95 articulated light-rail cars built by Kinki-Sharyo.

The initial 20-mile "starter system" opened in 1996—97. A series of extensions opened in 2001—2002, bringing the system to its current configuration. The latest extension opened on 12 November 2004, a 1.25-mile spur to the Victory station at the American Airlines Center (a sports arena) just west of downtown Dallas. This will eventually be part of a line to northwest Dallas and suburbs, but for now it will operate only during events at the arena.

At the Cityplace station, connections can be made with the M-Line heritage streetcar service on McKinney Avenue.

• DART rail system map, on the DART web site
• [front] | [back] Daily pass, purchased at the Park Lane station (June 2002)

Pictures

These pictures were taken on 23 June 2002.

[picture] An exterior view, from ground level, of the new elevated Park Lane station. It had just opened about a week earlier, in preparation for the extension to Galatyn Park which was to open a week later.

[picture] From the platform at Park Lane, we watch a northbound train arriving on the new elevated structure. The temporary ground-level Park Lane station is hidden behind the elevated structure to the left. This train was apparently on a test run for the new track to the north.

[picture] On the platform at Park Lane, a southbound train finally arrives.

[picture #1] | [picture #2] At the other end of the Red Line, the Westmoreland station is a good example of DART's distinctive open arch-roofed station architecture.

[picture] Just north of Union Station, the line passes over the "triple underpass" at Dealey Plaza. This is Dallas's most famous site for an unfortunate reason: President John F. Kennedy was assassinated as he rode through here on 22 November 1963, near the right edge of the picture.

[picture] A northbound Blue Line train on the Pacific Street transit mall passes the intersection with Market Street, near the West End station.

[picture] Two Blue Line trains meet at the West End station. A festival was going on nearby, so police on bicycles were patrolling the station.

[picture] A northbound train arrives at the Cityplace station, the only underground station on the system. (Unfortunately, I messed up the focusing so this is a bit fuzzy.)

[picture] The walls of the Cityplace station are decorated with pictures of earlier Dallas transit vehicles, including streetcars.

[picture] DART loaned several light rail trains to Salt Lake City to help meet transit needs for the 2002 Winter Olympics. The trains returned bearing the Salt Lake Olympics logo.

This page was last updated on 14 May 2005.

Presbyterian College > Academic Web Server > Jon Bell > Transit > (Cities | Types) > Dallas > DART

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