Platform Extensions Will Increase Capacity by 33% Lengthening stations will allow longer trains on all lines The Platform Extensions Project will extend and/or raise portions of the platforms at 28 Red Line and Blue Line stations to accommodate three-car trains, which will increase passenger capacity while maintaining train frequency. DART built shorter platforms at the nonaerial stations on the Red and Blue lines located outside of downtown, which were all constructed before 2004. Since then, the agency has built new stations to the longer specification and lengthened the platforms downtown. Constrained to two-car trains on Blue, Red and Orange line service, DART is limited to moving 36 light rail vehicles per hour in each direction through downtown. With longer platforms, the agency could operate three-car trains on all rail lines, or 48 vehicles per hour – a 33 percent increase in capacity. The Texas Department of Transportation has given the agency $60 million for the project. Likewise, the Federal Transit Administration reallocated $9.6 million in Capital Investment Grant funds from fiscal years 2014, 2015 and 2016 to DART for these extensions. DART has requested $49 million in Core Capacity Grant funding in the FY 2017 federal budget for this project. With congressional approval of this vital funding, DART can begin work in 2018 with completion by 2021. Dallas Streetcar Rolls into Bishop Arts District Transit complements neighborhood’s urban lifestyle The Bishop Arts District is on a new track since DART and the city of Dallas opened the second phase of the Dallas Streetcar on Aug. 27. Now the thriving shopping and nightlife district, which originally was built around trolley lines, has a streetcar stop for the first time since the 1950s. The entertainment destination – packed full of restaurants, galleries, taverns and boutiques – also is known for limited parking. The recent extension of the Dallas Streetcar is attracting new development and making it easier to take transit between the Bishop Arts District and Downtown Dallas. In April 2015, DART began service on the first phase of the city-owned Dallas Streetcar line, which was partly funded by $26 million in Federal Transit Administration TIGER grants. Dallas contracted with DART to design, build, operate and maintain the vehicles and system. Pennsylvania-based Brookville Equipment Corp. manufactured the modern streetcars, which fit in with the pedestrian-friendly nature of the neighborhood. DART currently is working with Dallas on the Central Streetcar Link, which will expand modern streetcar service from Union Station to the M-Line Trolley, linking places like the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center and Omni Dallas Hotel with the Downtown Dallas Central Business District and Uptown. Learn more: DART.org/dallasstreetcar 5 Lengthening and/or modifying platforms at 28 original Red and Blue line stations will enable DART to operate longer trains on all lines during the busiest hours.
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