DART will test these new cars on its Silver Line that’s under construction — but the line will connect Plano to DFW International Airport.
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Dallas Area Rapid Transit’s ambitious Silver Line project is moving closer to completion as the 26-mile train line enters its fifth year of construction.
DART leaders are hopeful about seeing the project come to life soon and serving riders in the near future. A transit agency spokesperson said the agency aims to deliver the Silver Line for revenue service by the end of 2025 or early 2026. Construction kicked off in 2021, and the line was initially slated to deliver by March 2023 — but pandemic-related supply chain issues caused significant delays.
Now the nearly $2.1 billion transit line is around 85% complete, said Mario Zavala, a spokesperson for DART. The Silver Line, which is segmented into three parts, aims to connect riders from Plano all the way to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. The line will traverse through seven cities and three counties.
“The Silver Line is a major piece to solving the mobility puzzle in North Texas by providing a strong east to west connection between Plano and DFW Airport,” DART President and CEO Nadine Lee said in an October statement.
The agency began running test trains between the Richardson and Plano segment of the line during the summer of 2024, when the project was around 70% complete. It is now wrapping up this portion of testing and aims to begin its second round of segmented testing — between Terminal B at the airport and the downtown Carrollton station.
End-to-end testing for the train is expected to take place by summer 2025. Testing allows the agency to monitor the track and test safety measures without having any rides on board.
The transit agency plans to open Hillcrest Road at the end of January after closing parts of it to construct the rail guideway. DART’s construction team had to excavate almost 18 feet of rock and soil to build a new road between McCallum Boulevard and Meandering Way in North Dallas.
DART’s Silver Line project has also brought on some new real estate projects in the region. The agency recently began construction on a 40,000-square-foot equipment maintenance facility in Plano, marking DART’s fourth regional rail facility in North Texas. The facility is located near the Shiloh Road Station and is directly behind a 20,000-square-foot office building at 3201 Technology Dr. that DART purchased. This space will serve as the Silver Line’s operations and maintenance home once the line begins revenue service.
The facility’s proximity to an existing station will help DART respond quickly to issues on the line, including vehicle-related problems once the Silver Line is up and running. A groundbreaking ceremony for the site was held Oct. 24, which brought together several DART execs and city leaders.
DART worked alongside the City of Plano on the facility, allowing the agency to save more than $30 million in capital for the construction of the maintenance facility. The complex aims to house 65 employees and includes additional room to expand in the future.
The Silver Line remains a highly anticipated project from DART, which says it serves an estimated 220,000 passengers daily. Its light rail system serves a total of 13 cities, including Dallas, Irving, Carrollton, University Park and Rowlett. DART’s light rail is also considered one of the largest in the country and operates more than 93 miles of track, only surpassed by Los Angeles’ metro rail system.
DART’s board structure might also be changing soon, as its board of directors plans to deliberate this week in a special-called meeting over how many seats will be awarded to the City of Dallas. It currently holds eight of the 15 board seats, or a little more than half of the board, per DART’s website. Seats on DART’s board are appointed based on population estimates for Dallas and its 12 partnering suburbs.
However, as more people flock to the city’s northern suburbs, Dallas may lose board seats and no longer control a majority of DART’s board, D Magazine reported. This presents an interesting challenge for a city aims to become more walkable and rely less heavily on cars.