Trinity Railway Express

Trinity Railway Express
An F59PHI used on TRE
Overview
Type	Commuter rail
Status	Operating
Locale	Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex
Termini	Union Station, Dallas T&P Station, Fort Worth
Stations	10
Daily ridership	9,800
Operation
Opened	December 30, 1996
Owner	Dallas Area Rapid Transit and Fort Worth Transportation Authority
Operator(s)	Herzog Transit Services
Technical
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) (standard gauge)
Electrification	No
Route map Legend Blue Line to Ledbetter; Red Line to Westmoreland Union Station Blue Line to Downtown Garland; Red Line to Parker Road; Green Line to Buckner Victory Station Green Line to North Carrollton/Frankford; Orange Line to DFW Airport Dallas North Tollway Medical/Market Center Interstate 35E Trinity River Loop 12 South Irving West Irving President George Bush Turnpike CentrePort/DFW Airport SH 360 Hurst/Bell Interstate 820 Richland Hills Trinity River Interstate 35W Fort Worth ITC T&P Station

The Trinity Railway Express (or TRE) is a commuter rail line in the Dallas – Fort Worth Metroplex. 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 began operating in December, 1996.

The TRE commuter line has a daily ridership of 9,800 and is the fourteenth most-ridden commuter rail system in the country. Annual ridership on the TRE exceeds two and a half million persons.

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 Green Line. Thus, the TRE is now shown as a dark blue line on DART maps.

Granbury, Texas-based firm 4G Metro offers Wi-Fi Internet access to TRE customers. The access point broadcasts as "4G-TRE" and is open.^{[citation needed]}

History

Named after the Trinity River, which flows between Fort Worth and Dallas, the TRE was launched on December 30, 1996, shortly after the inaugural service of Dallas' light rail system, 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.

Route

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 ten regular station stops, including a stop at Victory Station (which until the opening of DART's Green line in September 2009, was used only for special events). Not all trains are through trains - a number of trains either terminate or originate at the CentrePort/DFW Airport Station.

Fleet

Class	Image	Type(s)	Top speed		Number	Routes operated	Built
			mph	km/h
EMD F59PH		Diesel Locomotive	110	177	7	Dallas-Fort Worth	1988-1994
EMD F59PHI		Diesel Locomotive	110	177	2	Dallas-Fort Worth	2001
Budd Rail Diesel Car		Diesel Multiple Unit	75	120	13	Dallas-Fort Worth	1949-62
Bombardier BiLevel Coach		Passenger coach Control Car	95	150	25	Dallas-Fort Worth	1976-77 2003 2007 2009

• EMD F59PH IV (1994) locomotives - #525, 527-28 & 565-68 acquired from GO Transit
  • All locomotives overhauled in late 2010 by the Norfolk Southern Railroad and RELCO Locomotive to meet EPA standards.
• EMD F59PHI (2001) locomotives - #569-70 purchased from EMD
• Bombardier Transportation and Hawker-Siddeley bi-level cabs and coaches
• Budd Rail Diesel Cars, 13 were purchased from VIA Rail Canada in 1993 and remanufactured by GEC Alsthom in Montreal.

Information from the Trinity Railway Express Train Facts page

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.

Stations

Listed from east to west

• Dallas Union Station (Also served by Red Line, Blue Line)
• Victory Station (Also served by Green Line, Orange Line, and Special Event Trains)
• 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)

Accidents and incidents

On February 15, 2010 a woman was killed after being struck by a TRE train. Her death was the second within a week, and the 11th death cause by TRE trains since the service started to operate in December 1996.

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  TRE train at South Irving Station.

• 

  The TRE stops at the historic T&P Station in Fort Worth.

• 

  Trinity Railway Express trainset pulling into the Fort Worth Intermodal Transportation Center at 9th and Jones Streets.

External links

• Trinity Railway Express Website
• Transit-Oriented Development
• 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