{"id":68160,"date":"2025-11-28T06:26:07","date_gmt":"2025-11-28T06:26:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/68160\/"},"modified":"2025-11-28T06:26:07","modified_gmt":"2025-11-28T06:26:07","slug":"silver-line-connects-riders-from-plano-richardson-to-dfw-airport","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/68160\/","title":{"rendered":"Silver Line connects riders from Plano, Richardson to DFW Airport"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNearly two decades after its initial conception, the 26-mile, $2 billion Silver Line<\/a> transit rail from transportation agency Dallas Area Rapid Transit<\/a> is now open.<\/p>\n

As of Oct. 25, riders can hop on the train and travel to Dallas Fort Worth International Airport in less than an hour. The Silver Line has two stations each in Plano and Richardson, and six additional stations that touch Dallas, Addison, Carrollton, Coppell and Grapevine.<\/p>\n

What you need to know<\/p>\n

DART CEO Nadine Lee called the Silver Line\u2019s opening the \u201crealization of a promise kept to our riders and our region.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis moment captures what we mean when we talk about moving [DART] from being seen as just a transit system to becoming a regional economic and mobility asset,\u201d Lee said.<\/p>\n

Gary Slagel, former DART board of directors chair, added that the Silver Line is a major piece in providing \u201crail connectivity across the entire metroplex.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a vision to get you from your house to anywhere you need to go in the Metroplex using DART,\u201d Slagel said. \u201cThe only way that happens is to continue to build services. The milestone today is one that I will remember for a long time. … We went through some difficult times to get here, but we are here today.\u201d<\/p>\n

“><\/p>\n

Another thing<\/p>\n

The Silver Line becomes the third train option that runs to DFW Airport.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt brings another direct rail option to DFW, making the airport more accessible to residents and visitors across the region,\u201d said Dean Ahmad, DFW vice president of parking. \u201cIt\u2019s another connection point into the global network of DFW\u2019s airline partners.\u201d<\/p>\n

DART\u2019s Orange Line was the first, debuting in 2014 and Trinity Metro\u2019s TEXRail started service in 2019. TEXRail\u2019s 27-mile stretch from Fort Worth T&P Station to Terminal B cost $39 million and was completed in 19 months, according to a news release.<\/p>\n

In 2024, Trinity Metro changed trips from every hour to every 30 minutes to DFW Airport due to demand, according to previous Community Impact reporting<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Something to know<\/p>\n

Four DART member cities\u2014Plano, Irving, Farmers Branch and Highland Park\u2014have initiated special elections<\/a> allowing voters to decide if they remain with the transit system. Addison may also join them, with a Dec. 2 special meeting set to consider a special election of its own.<\/p>\n

Potential withdrawals could impact around $267 million in sales tax revenue for DART, which Lee said would impact the whole system.<\/p>\n

Lee said Oct. 29 that all services in Plano would stop the day after the election if voters approved the withdrawal, including service at Plano\u2019s Silver Line stations, and that the entire DART system would be impacted.<\/p>\n

Plano officials point to a 2023 study from Ernst and Young Infrastructure Advisors as one reason for calling the election. It found Plano contributed about $109.6 million in sales tax and saw $44.6 million in expenses within the city in fiscal year 2023.<\/p>\n

Plano Director of Government Andrew Fortune added that Plano officials have \u201crepeatedly\u201d tried negotiating to receive more Plano-specific DART services, submitting five reform plans dating back to last December, including one earlier this month<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Looking ahead<\/p>\n

Richardson City Manager Don Magner said that city staff are working with DART and the other cities to identify a \u201cregional solution\u201d prior to any withdrawals.<\/p>\n

\u201dWe continue to believe that there is a win-win solution, and we\u2019re dedicated to doing our part to realize that resolution,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Magner added that rethinking the types of service provided in cities considering leaving DART is one possible solution.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe assumption is if a city leaves, there\u2019s revenue that leaves and services would have to be cut,\u201d Magner said. \u201dWhat if these cities don\u2019t need to cut services, they just need different services? … We\u2019re really pushing for that right now.\u201d\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nearly two decades after its initial conception, the 26-mile, $2 billion Silver Line transit rail from transportation agency…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":68161,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[2261,160,162,161,959,16737],"class_list":{"0":"post-68160","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-plano","8":"tag-dart","9":"tag-plano","10":"tag-plano-headlines","11":"tag-plano-news","12":"tag-richardson","13":"tag-silver-line"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68160","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=68160"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68160\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/68161"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68160"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68160"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68160"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}