North Texas commuters have a new rail option after Dallas Area Rapid Transit debuted its Silver Line on Friday, connecting Plano and seven other cities to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.
More than 100 guests, elected officials, and members of the public took part in the inaugural passenger ride along a portion of the 26-mile route. Stops include Grapevine, Coppell, Carrollton, Addison, Dallas, Richardson and Plano.
The Silver Line helps link regional transit systems, including Trinity Railway Express in Tarrant County and Denton County Transportation Authority service, with DART in Dallas and Collin counties.
“We know how important it is that our riders have different types of options to get to the different places that they want to go to,” said Jeamy Molina with DART.
The route includes 10 stations, including one at the University of Texas at Dallas, and connects to light rail, bus routes, airport terminals and Trinity Metro’s TexRail.
A full ride from Shiloh Road station in Plano to Terminal B at DFW Airport takes just under one hour.
On Friday, NBC 5 traveled the middle section of the Silver Line from Cypress Waters through Carrollton to Addison. Yesenia Beltran and her young son Julian were among those on board after winning a chance to take the debut ride.
“We’ve been following the Silver Line opening for weeks no,w especially because my son is obsessed with trains,” Beltran said. “I was shocked at how smooth it is. I expected it to be a bit slower, not that it goes really fast, but it’s a very decent speed.”
DART is offering free rides on the Silver Line from Saturday through Nov. 8.