TEX Rail

TEX Rail
Overview
Other name(s) Tarrant Express Railway
Type Commuter rail
System Fort Worth Transportation Authority
Status under construction
Locale Tarrant County Texas, USA
Termini DFW Airport Station
T&P Station
Website TEX Rail
Operation
Owner The T
Technical
Track gauge 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Route map

TEX Rail (also known as the Tarrant Express Railway, formerly known as the Southwest-to-Northeast Rail Corridor) is an under-construction commuter rail line in Tarrant County, Texas, United States that will provide service from southwest Fort Worth to DFW International Airport via Grapevine and other Tarrant County communities. It is being consturcted by the Fort Worth Transportation Authority ("The T") and is scheduled to open in 2018. The new line is expected to cost $330 million, of which 10 percent would be Grapevine's share.[1] This segment of the Cotton Belt Rail Line will be operated independent of the other two segments, as it is being built by the T, instead of DART, who will be building the other segments.

Officials with the T are hoping the new rail line will entice non-T member cities along the line to join the transit agency in its quest to become a regional transit entity. Cities along the route include Colleyville, Haltom City and North Richland Hills. The route also goes through small parts of Hurst and Southlake. Unlike Grapevine, those cities do not have room under the state-mandated 8.25% sales tax cap for the 1/2 cent need to join. The T will not build a station along the line in those cities unless they become a member city first.[2]

Stations

Opening Day stations (to open in 2018):[3]

Station
Transfer
Texas & Pacific (T&P)
Fort Worth Intermodal Transportation Center
North Side
Beach Street/Mercantile
N. Richland Hills/Iron Horse
N. Richland Hills/Smithfield
Grapevine-Main Street Grapevine Vintage Railroad
DFW Airport-North Future: DART Cotton Belt Line
DFW Airport Station Future: DART Cotton Belt Line
A diesel multiple unit (DMU) similar to those planned to be used on TEX Rail.

Rolling stock

The T plans to provide TEX Rail service using self-propelled Diesel Multiple Units capable of carrying up to 450 passengers.[3] The T's request for proposal, issued on May 16, 2014, seeks procurement of DMUs which feature level boarding, onboard toilets, and Wi-Fi connectivity, and are capable of operating at speeds up to 79 mph.[3] The T awarded a contract for the procurement of an initial 8 DMUs, with an option for up to 24 additional DMUs, in November 2014.[3] In April 2015, Stadler Rail was awarded the aforementioned contract for eight 4-car articulated FLIRT3 DMUs,[4] signed at a ceremony on June 9, 2015 at the Fort Worth Intermodal Transportation Center (ITC) by the Chairman of the T (Mr. Scott Mahaffey), the CEO of the T (Mr. Paul Ballard) and the CEO of Stadler Rail (Mr. Peter Spuhler). The contract is valued at $US 106.7m, and includes the supply of components for 10 years. The contract also includes an option for an additional 24 DMU's.

This is Switzerland-based Stadler's first order in the US for any model outside its Stadler GTW product line. Furthermore, it is the company's first order to be subject to the regulations of the Buy America Act. As such, one element of the contract is that the final assembly of the trains will take place in the US, and a site in Lewisville is being considered as a possible location for the facility.[5][6]

History

Grapevine citizens voted 8,058-2,898 on November 7, 2006 to levy a full cent sales tax, of which three-eights of a cent would authorize Grapevine to contract with The T for rail service and another 1/8 cent for other transit improvements, like a downtown parking garage.[7] This includes an expansion of the commuter rail system to link southwest Fort Worth to the north end of DFW International Airport.

The T's Board of Directors finalized their plans in October 2006 for the southwest-to-northeast expansion. Two commuter routes, a light rail route and a bus rapid transit route were under consideration. The Board's recommendation was a commuter rail line that runs in the southwest part of the city near Altamesa and Dirks road, run by Texas Christian University and the Medical District on its way to the existing T&P Station and Fort Worth Intermodal Transportation Center. At that point it turns northwest toward the Stockyards before turning northeast toward DFW International Airport. Preliminary plans call for nine new stations with eleven total, though that has not been finalized,[8] and could be contingent on other cities along the corridor joining the agency.

A proposal to use private funding to construct both TEX Rail and DART's Dallas County segment was considered, but this plan was abandoned after necessary legislation was not passed in the State Legislature.[9] Following this legislative defeat, The T began pursuing federal grant funds in order to build TEX Rail.[9] On March 5, 2014, it was announced that the TEX Rail project would receive $50 million in federal grant funds from President Barack Obama's 2015 New Starts Funding Budget.[10]

Project status

In April 2015, the T approved a contract for pre-construction services, awarded to an Archer Western Contractors/Herzog Rail Services joint venture, as well as approving the final design for the Iron Horse and Smithfield Road stations.[4] In June 2015, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) gave approval for the project to advance into the engineering phase that immediately precedes the start of construction. The approval also allowed the T to place an order for trains such that they can be built in time for the planned service opening date in 2018.[11] In June 2016, the T received a Letter of No Prejudice from the FTA, essentially green-lighting the project. In reaction to this, the T said they planned to start preliminary construction in July 2016, on track for a planned opening date in 2018.[12] DFW Airport also said they would provide the $40 million to build the station at Terminal B, with an opening date in late 2018.[13]

Construction on the line started August, 24, 2016. An event was held at Grapevine's historic depot, the future site of Downtown Grapevine station, to kick off the construction before leaders rode the Grapevine Vintage Railroad to the Stockyards in Fort Worth. At the event, Scott Mahaffey, the chairman of the T, said that "[TEX Rail] will be premier service, not just transit...there will be USB ports. There will be quiet cars. That's an area you can go in...and work and sleep and do other things." Similar events were held at other future station sites in North Richland Hills and in Fort Worth.[14]

References

  1. ↑ Cotton Belt Costs
  2. ↑ Cities weigh cost of rail line, Fort Worth Star Telegram
  3. 1 2 3 4 "TEX Rail Diesel Multiple Unit Train Sets RFP 14-T008" (PDF). The T. June 30, 2014. Retrieved August 13, 2014.
  4. 1 2 "TEX Rail contracts approved". Trains Magazine. April 28, 2015. Retrieved April 29, 2015.
  5. ↑ "TEX Rail orders Stadler Flirt DMUs". Railway Gazette. June 11, 2015.
  6. ↑ "Stadler Rail wins 100-million-dollar contract in Texas". Stadler Rail. June 10, 2015.
  7. ↑ Grapevine election results
  8. ↑ untitled
  9. 1 2 Dickson, Gordon (May 29, 2013). "Cotton Belt funding bill dies in Legislature". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Retrieved April 13, 2014.
  10. ↑ "TEX Rail Plan Gets $50-Million In Federal Funds". CBSDFW.com. March 5, 2014. Retrieved August 13, 2014.
  11. ↑ "TEX Rail receives FTA approval to enter engineering phase". Railway Track & Structures (RTS). Simmons-Boardman Publishing. June 5, 2015.
  12. ↑ "TEX Rail Set To Become Reality, But…". CBS DFW. June 28, 2016.
  13. ↑ "D/FW Airport Approves TEX Rail Station at Terminal B". NBC DFW. July 1, 2016.
  14. ↑ "Finally, TEX Rail project underway from Fort Worth to Grapevine and DFW". Star-Telegram (Fort Worth). Retrieved 25 August 2016.
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