TRINITY RAILWAY EXPRESS

The 'Trinity Railway Express' (or 'TRE') is a regional rail commuter line in the Dallas/Fort Worth mass transit system. It was established by an interlocal agreement between Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) and the Fort Worth Transportation Authority (The T). Each transit authority owns a 50% stake in the joint rail project and contractor Herzog Transit Services operates the line.
The TRE commuter line has a daily ridership of 8,700 [1] and is the eleventh most-ridden commuter rail system in the country. Annual ridership on the TRE exceeds two million persons.[2]

Until 2006, it was typically shown as a green line on DART maps and therefore was sometimes referred to as the "Green Line," but this was not an official designation. In 2006, DART chose green as the color for its new light rail route, the , which will run from Pleasant Grove to Carrollton. Thus, the TRE is now shown as a dark blue line on DART maps.
The eastern terminus of the TRE line is Dallas Union Station on the west side of downtown Dallas. The line runs northwest, past the American Airlines Center and Southwestern Medical Center, through Irving, DFW Airport, Hurst, and Richland Hills before ending with two stops in downtown Fort Worth (the Fort Worth Intermodal Transportation Center at 9th and Jones Streets and the T&P Station on Throckmorton Street). There are a total of nine regular station stops and one special event stop at Victory Station, which is only utilized when there are scheduled events at the adjacent American Airlines Center (i.e. Dallas Stars games, Dallas Mavericks games, etc.). Not all trains are through trains - a number of trains either terminate or originate at the CentrePort/DFW Airport Station.
Named after the Trinity River, which flows between Fort Worth and Dallas, the TRE was launched shortly after the inaugural service of Dallas' light rail system in 1996, operating from Union Station to the South Irving Station in Irving. On 18 September 2000, the line was extended to the Richland Hills Station and, for the first time, there was rail service available between downtown Dallas and DFW Airport. On 13 November 2000 the West Irving Station also opened. On 3 December 2001, the TRE was extended to its current terminus at the T&P Station in downtown Fort Worth.
Equipment used on the TRE consists of four EMD F59PH locomotives, two EMD F59PHI locomotives, and 17 Bombardier BiLevel Coaches (including 7 cab cars identical to GO Transit, Metrolink and Caltrain commuter trains). Also, 13 rail diesel cars (RDCs) are used primarily for midday trains between downtown Dallas and DFW Airport.
Each non-RDC train includes at least one locomotive unit and one bi-level cab car. Typically, one or two additional coach cars are included between the locomotive and cab car. Each cab car (and thus each train) has a restroom and passengers may move between cars during the trip. The trip from Union Station to T&P Station takes just over an hour, with scheduled trip times ranging from one hour, three minutes to one hour, eleven minutes. Track improvements are currently underway which should offer an improvement in travel times by double-tracking certain stations and sections of the route. Currently, portions of the route are single-track, requiring eastbound and westbound trains to meet only at certain points and requiring some eastbound trains to hold for 5-7 minutes to wait for a westbound train to get to the passing area.

Granbury-based firm 4G Metro had planned to offer Wi-Fi service to TRE customers by the end of Summer 2007. [3] However, Fort Worth Transportation Authority officials say that date is unrealistic.

Contents

Fleet

Stations

External links

Fleet

★ EMD F59PH IV (1994) locomotives - #565-68 acquired from GO Transit

★ EMD F59PHI (2001) locomotives - #569-70 purchased from EMD

★ Bombardier Transportation and Hawker-Siddeley bi-level cabs and coaches

★ Budd Rail Diesel Car

★ MPI MPXpress MP40PH-3C locomotives
''Information from the Trinity Railway Express Train Facts page''

Stations

★ Union Station (downtown Dallas)

★ Victory Station (the station is only open during events at the American Airlines Center)

★ Medical/Market Center Station

★ South Irving Station

★ West Irving Station

★ CentrePort/DFW Airport Station

★ Hurst/Bell Station

★ Richland Hills Station

★ Fort Worth Intermodal Transportation Center (downtown Fort Worth)

★ T&P Station (downtown Fort Worth)

External links

★ Trinity Railway Express Website

★ DART System Maps

★ Fort Worth System Maps

★ TRE info page

★ A "Trains Magazine" article on the TRE

★ Website for the new "sw2ne" rail line in Tarrant County

★ Map of the new "sw2ne" rail line in Tarrant County