What's Here:
One of the newest (as of 2020) commuter rail operations in the U.S.
Data:
GPS Coordinates: as needed
Phone A/C: 817
ZIP: 7616x
Access by train/transit:
Trinity Rail Express at T&P and Central Stations in Ft Worth
DART Light Rail at DFW Airport
The Scoop:
TexRail is a commuter rail type operation traveling between downtown Ft
Worth TX and DFW Airport, terminal B, which is across the International
Parkway from the DART Light Rail station. It is operated by Trinity
Metro (formerly Fort Worth Transportation Authority). Service started on
January 10, 2019, with a preview of the upcoming service on December 31, 2018.
Because this guide got so large with the addition of all of the signal and
bridge locations along the line (30 for the signals), I put them on their own pages.
Construction on the line officially started on August 24, 2016, with a groundbreaking
held at Grapevine's historic depot, the site of Grapevine-Main Street station. On
January 4, 2019, less than 12 hours before service was scheduled to commence, the
opening was suspended due to signal issues identified during an inspection by FRA
officials along the southern end of the line in Downtown Fort Worth. The new
opening date was on January 10, 2019.
Operations: Estimated travel time from T&P Station to DFW Airport is estimated to
be approximately 52 minutes. There are 48 trips per day with predominantly 1-hour
headways; all but the earliest westbound and latest eastbound trains runs the full
length of the route. The line is predominantly single tracked, with passing sidings
installed to allow for 30-minute headways.
As of 2020, the line has 9 stations:
Rolling stock: TEXRail service uses eight (8) Stadler FLIRT self-propelled diesel multiple units
(DMU) capable of seating 229 passengers and carrying up to 488 passengers. In TEXRail
application, the diesel power module contains two 520-kilowatt (697 hp) (1400 hp Total)
Deutz AG TCD 16.0 V8 engines that comply with US EPA Tier 4 emission standard, able to
achieve a top speed of 81 mph (130 km/h). These units at 266 feet (81 m) long weigh in
at 352,000 pounds (160 t) empty (443,000 pounds (201 t) full load).
Editor: For comparison purposes, the Baltimore LRV's, which are 95 feet
long, weigh 54 tons empty, so foot for foot, the new TexRail cars weigh slightly less!
The contract to purchase eight trainsets, valued at about $100 million, was awarded to
Stadler in June 2015. The first set was delivered in October 2017, and
four more sets had arrived by November 2018. Equipment testing and crew training started
in March 2018.
Each rail vehicle is configured with an operator cab at either end for bidirectional
movement. At the center of the train is the power pack with two diesel engines, with
a passageway to allow access to other parts of the train, and allows it to be much
quieter than traditional commuter rail. TEXRail vehicle amenities include USB ports
equipped at every seat, work tables, lap trays, a quiet car, ADA compliant level
boarding, overhead luggage racks, bike racks, and a restroom near the center of each train.
If you notice, they are using the pretty much "standard" coupler for transit
equipment made by Dellnor - the Baltimore LRV's use the same coupler, and
they were designed 30+ years ago.
Most of the above information comes from the Wikipedia page. A "good
number" of the aerial photos below were screen grabbed from both Google and
Bing Maps in June of 2020, and as of then, most of the aerial photography
was done BEFORE the start of construction, with a few hitting the area while
construction was going on, like the overpass construction over Old Denton
Road. We'll revisit soon to see if they have had any new flyovers for
updated aerial shots.
Chasing the line:
As far as picture taking goes, good places abound, especially along Ira E.
Woods Ave from Grapevine down to Brumlow Blvd. The two run right next
to each other for almost three miles, for dang near perfect pictures.
South of that, Woods turns into Colleyville Blvd, and veers away from the
tracks.
The Cotton Belt Trail follows the tracks from William D. Tate Rd in
Grapevine south to Browning Dr, a distance of a little over 11 miles!
Many good spots along here, there are many small bridges. A parking
lot for the Dick Faram Park adjacent to the trail on Amundson Dr near
Donna Rd, makes for a convenient spot to park for pictures - one of many!!!
In 2017, when the following PDF was published, it was estimated to cost
slightly over one billion dollars to "build" the TEX Rail system. I
wonder what the final cost actually was?
Please see my signal and bridge section, because they contain the bulk of
the detail for specific places (even tho they are tedious to wade thru :-).
This page is lengthy, because I have covered every bridge & overpass, and
every signal location (I can find via Google) on the line.
The STATION BY STATION section will not only highlight the stations of the
line, but also the maintenance facility, and anything else of
significance.
As of the original date of this page, June 2020, I have not visited the
line, and am going strictly by what I can find on Google Maps and Bing Maps.
Neither of them have updated imagery showing the completed line yet,
especially towards the western end of the line in Ft Worth. If anyone
has pictures they would like to contribute, I hope you will. Because
of that, I pretty much stopped following the signals west of the North Side
station.
Acknowledgements:
Bob Vogel
Whomever is behind the gramho site
Denver Todd
Google Maps
Bing Maps
The infamous Tower 55 in downtown Ft Worth is just a short hop from the T&P
Station. The area sure has changed since I first visited the tower in 1985!
Because Tower 55 is at the crossroads of Ft Worth railroading, being there
or nearby is one of the best places to be in Texas.
Disclaimers:
I love trains, and I love signals. I am not an expert. My webpages reflect what I find on the topic of the page. This is something I have fun with while
trying to help others.
Please Note: Since the main focus of my two websites is railroad signals, the railfan guides are oriented towards the signal fan being able to locate them.
For those of you into the modeling aspect of our hobby, my
indexa page has a list of almost everything railroad oriented
I can think of to provide you with at least a few pictures to help you detail your pike.
If this is a railfan page, every effort has been made to make sure that the information contained on this map and in this railfan guide is correct. Once in a while,
an error may creep in :-)
My philosophy: Pictures and maps are worth a thousand words, especially for railfanning. Text descriptions only get you so far, especially if you get lost or
disoriented. Take along good maps.... a GPS is OK to get somewhere, but maps are still better if you get lost! I belong to AAA, which allows you to get
local maps for free when you visit the local branches. ADC puts out a nice series of county maps for the Washington DC area, but their state maps do not have the
railroads on them. If you can find em, I like the National Geographic map book of the U.S..... good, clear, and concise graphics, and they do a really good job
of showing you where tourist type attractions are, although they too lack the railroads. Other notes about specific areas will show up on that page if known.
Aerial shots were taken from either Google or Bing Maps as noted. Screen captures are made
with Snagit, a Techsmith product... a great tool if you have never used it!
By the way, floobydust is a term I picked up 30-40 years ago from a National Semiconductor data book, and means miscellaneous
and/or other stuff.
Pictures and additional information is always needed if anyone feels inclined to take 'em, send 'em, and share 'em, or if you have something to add or correct.... credit
is always given! Please be NICE!!! Contact info is here
Beware: If used as a source, ANYTHING from Wikipedia must be treated as being possibly being inaccurate, wrong, or not true.