Trinity Railway Express

The Trinity Railway Express (TRE) is a commuter rail line in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, Texas, United States. It was established by an interlocal agreement between Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) and Trinity Metro. 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.^[3][4]

Trinity Railway Express
EMD F59PH at Dallas Union Station in November 2004
Overview
Owner	Dallas Area Rapid Transit (50%) Trinity Metro (50%)
Locale	Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex
Termini	Union Station, Dallas T&P Station, Fort Worth
Stations	10
Service
Type	Commuter rail
Operator(s)	Herzog Transit Services
Daily ridership	4,000 (weekdays, Q2 2023)^[1]
Ridership	1,089,800 (2022)^[2]
History
Opened	December 30, 1996 (1996-12-30)
Technical
Line length	34 mi (55 km)
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Route diagram Legend Union Station Victory Medical/Market Center Downtown Irving/ Heritage Crossing West Irving (via ) CentrePort/DFW Airport Bell Richland Hills Fort Worth Central Station T&P Station All stations are accessible Detailed diagram Blue Line to UNT Dallas . Red Line to Westmoreland Union Station Blue Line to Downtown Rowlett . Red Line to Parker Road . Green Line to Buckner SH Spur 366 Woodall Rogers Freeway Victory Green Line to North Carrollton/Frankford . Orange Line to DFW Airport station Dallas North Tollway Medical/Market Center I-35E Trinity River Loop 12 E.C. Junction Downtown Irving/ Heritage Crossing W.C. Junction SH 356 West Irving Pres. George Bush Turnpike Maintenance facility Dallas County Tarrant County CentrePort/DFW Airport (via ) SH 360 Bell Trinity Lakes (Proposed) I-820 Richland Hills Trinity River Dalwor Junction I-35W 6th Street Junction SH Spur 280 Fort Worth Central Station T&P Station This diagram: view talk edit

In 2022, the system had a ridership of 1,089,800, or about 4,000 per weekday as of the second quarter of 2023, making it the seventeenth most-ridden commuter rail system in the United States.

Before 2006, the TRE 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. Since 2006, the TRE has been shown as a dark blue line on DART maps.

History

Named after the Trinity River, the West Fork of which flows from Fort Worth to Dallas, the TRE was launched on December 30, 1996,^[3] shortly after the inaugural service of Dallas' DART Light Rail system, operating from Dallas Union Transit Station to the South Irving Transit Station.^[5] It runs along a former Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad line that the cities of Dallas and Fort Worth purchased in 1983 for $34 million.^[6]

Service initially operated only in weekday rush hours, but midday and evening service was added in December 1997,^[6] and Saturday service was added in December 1998.^[6][7]

On September 18, 2000, the line was extended to the suburb of Richland Hills^[6] and, for the first time, there was rail service available between downtown Dallas and Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. On November 13, 2000, the West Irving Transit Station also opened. On December 3, 2001, the TRE was extended to its current terminus at the T&P Station in downtown Fort Worth.^[6]

Route

The eastern terminus of the TRE route is Dallas Union Station on the west side of downtown Dallas. From there, the line runs northwest parallel to Interstate 35E, passing American Airlines Center and Dallas Market Center before turning west. The line crosses the Elm Fork of the Trinity River into Irving, passing through Irving's historic downtown district. The train continues west to the Dallas County/Tarrant County border, passing under the President George Bush Turnpike.

While crossing into Tarrant County, the line passes about four miles south of Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. The line passes over SH-360 and takes a slight southwest turn along the northern city limits of Arlington. It turns slightly northwest towards Bell before following the southern city limits of Hurst. As it approaches Interstate 820, it takes a sharper southwest turn towards downtown Fort Worth, passing through Richland Hills and Haltom City. The line enters downtown Fort Worth from the northeast, passing under Interstate 35W and curving towards Fort Worth Central Station. Finally, the track curls around downtown Fort Worth towards T&P Station.

According to current TRE schedules, a one-way trip in either direction takes approximately 1 hour and 2 minutes.^[8]

Service

TRE provides service six days a week from 4 AM (5 AM on Saturdays) to midnight (1 PM on Fridays). Trains are scheduled to arrive once every hour, or once every half-hour on weekdays during peak periods (4 to 9 AM and 2 to 7 PM).^[8] TRE does not provide service on Sundays except during the State Fair of Texas, in which case a Saturday schedule is used.

The TRE service yard is located in Irving between West Irving and CentrePort/DFW. During the start and end of both service time and peak periods, some trains will start or end at one of these stations.^[8]

TRE Link

Because TRE passes south of Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, the airport is serviced via a shuttle bus that runs between CentrePort/DFW and the airport's Terminal B. The Terminal B stop provides a connection to TEXRail via a pedestrian path. Branded as TRE Link and operated by Trinity Metro, the shuttle runs every 20-40 minutes during TRE operating hours.^[9]

Rolling Stock

Class	Image	Type(s)	Top speed		Number	Built
			mph	km/h
EMD F40PH		Diesel Locomotive	110	177	2	1981–1985
EMD F59PH		Diesel Locomotive	110	177	7	1988–1994 Late 2010 (Overhaul)
EMD F59PHI		Diesel Locomotive	110	177	2	2001
Bombardier BiLevel Coach		Coach Car Cab Car	95	150	25	1976–77 2003 2007 2009
Former fleet
Budd Rail Diesel Car, type RDC-1^[10]		Diesel Multiple Unit	85^[10]	137	13	1954–58

Diesel locomotives

TRE has a fleet of 11 locomotives.

• EMD F59PH IV (1994)

There are seven EMD F59PH IV locomotives that were acquired from GO Transit.  The original numbers for these were #525, #527–528 and #565–568. These were overhauled in late 2010 by the Norfolk Southern Railway and RELCO Locomotive to meet EPA standards and renumbered 120–126.^[11]

• EMD F59PHI (2001)

There are two EMD F59PHI locomotives that were purchased from EMD. The numbers for these are #569 and #570.

• EMD F40PH (2022)

TRE acquired 2 ex-Amtrak F40PHs from Progress Rail in 2022. They are numbered 130 and 131.

Coaches

• Bombardier Transportation and Hawker Siddeley bi-level cabs and coaches

Former fleet

Until 2011, the TRE fleet included diesel multiple units, in the form of 13 Budd Rail Diesel Cars (RDCs) built in the 1950s for Canadian Pacific (9), Canadian National (3) and Boston & Maine (1).^[12] They were purchased used from Via Rail Canada in 1993. All were remanufactured by GEC-Alsthom in Montreal. They entered service in March and April 1997^[13] – after trains leased from Amtrak and the Connecticut Department of Transportation temporarily provided initial TRE service when the RDCs were not ready in time for the inauguration of TRE service^[5] in December 1996 – and thereafter provided all service for the line's first two to three years. They remained in service for about 14 years, the last cars being taken off of TRE service in March 2011.^[14] In 2010–2011, 11 of the 13 cars were leased to Denton County Transportation Authority for operation on the A-train. They were returned in 2012 and placed in storage at the TRE shops in Irving, Texas. In spring 2017, 12 RDCs were sold via auction to AllEarth Rail,^[14][15] a Vermont-based private company that intends to use them to operate commuter rail service connecting the Vermont cities of Montpelier and Burlington.^[15] AllEarth subsequently resold two of the TRE cars to TriMet, of Portland, Oregon,^[16] before they had left Texas, and those two Dallas RDCs (Nos. 2007 and 2011) were moved in August 2017 from Texas to Oregon, where TriMet planned to use them on its WES Commuter Rail service.^[17] The other 10 RDCs were moved to Vermont the same month.^[16]

Train consist

 

Trinity Railway Express train with Bombardier BiLevel Coaches

Each 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^[when?] underway which should offer an improvement in travel times by double-tracking certain stations and sections of the route. Currently,^[when?] 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

Station	Parking	Municipality	Points of interest and major connections
T&P Station		Fort Worth	Trinity Metro:      TEXRail
Fort Worth Central Station			Serves Fort Worth Convention Center, Fort Worth Water Gardens, Sundance Square   Trinity Metro:      TEXRail   Amtrak:      Heartland Flyer,      Texas Eagle
Richland Hills		Richland Hills	Due to close in early 2024
Trinity Lakes		Fort Worth	Under construction; due to open in early 2024^[18] as replacement for Richland Hills
Bell		Hurst^[a]	Serves Bell Textron plant
CentrePort/DFW Airport		Fort Worth	Serves   Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport via   TRE Link shuttle
West Irving		Irving
Downtown Irving/Heritage Crossing
Medical/Market Center		Dallas	Serves Parkland Memorial Hospital, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Children's Medical Center Dallas, Dallas Market Center
Victory			Serves American Airlines Center   DART Light Rail:      Green Line      Orange Line
Union Station			Serves Reunion Tower, Dealey Plaza   DART Light Rail:      Blue Line      Red Line   Amtrak:      Texas Eagle

1. Bell station is located in Fort Worth but uses a Hurst postal code

Gallery

•  

  TRE train at South Irving station

•  

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

•  

  Trinity Railway Express train pulling into Fort Worth Central Station

References

1. "Transit Ridership Report Third Quarter 2023" (PDF). American Public Transportation Association. November 30, 2023. Retrieved December 6, 2023.
2. "Transit Ridership Report Fourth Quarter 2022" (PDF). American Public Transportation Association. March 1, 2023. Retrieved March 29, 2023.
3. Dickson, Gordon (November 26, 2016). "20 years later, there's plenty to love (and not) about the TRE". Star-Telegram. Fort Worth, Texas. Retrieved August 10, 2018.
4. Mueller, Sarah (February 16, 2010). "Dallas woman killed Monday by TRE train identified". Dallas Morning News. Retrieved February 16, 2010.
5. Cumbie, Jim (Spring 1997). "Dallas—Phase 2". The New Electric Railway Journal. pp. 12–13.
6. Van Hattem, Matt (July 2, 2006). "Trinity Railway Express: The commuter railroad linking Dallas and Fort Worth". Trains. Retrieved August 10, 2018.
7. Wolinsky, Julian (March 1999). "Commuter/Transit [regular monthly news section]". RailNews. p. 30.
8. "All TRE Schedules - 11/2023" (PDF). Trinity Railway Express. Dallas Area Rapid Transit and Trinity Metro.
9. "TRE Link Schedule - September 2023" (PDF). Trinity Metro. September 17, 2023.
10. Wallace, Rich (March 1997). "Dallas Welcomes Trinity Commuter Railway". RailNews. p. 13. Retrieved August 10, 2018.
11. "Trinity Railway Express receives upgraded F59PHs". Trains Magazine. December 13, 2010. Retrieved December 17, 2010.
12. Metroplex mover Trains May 1999 pages 50-52
13. Wallace, Rich (May 1997). "Questions and Answers for Dallas' Commuter Rail". RailNews. pp. 11–12. Retrieved August 10, 2018.
14. Fancher, Julie (April 14, 2017). "DART is selling these cool vintage railcars". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved August 10, 2018.
15. "Vermont solar panel company buys RDCs". Trains. April 10, 2017. Retrieved August 10, 2018.
16. Hall, C.B. (August 15, 2017). "AllEarth's commuter rail Budd cars pull into Vermont". Vermont Business Magazine. Retrieved August 10, 2018.
17. "Worldwide Review [regular monthly news section]". Tramways & Urban Transit. UK: LRTA Publishing. October 2017. p. 394. ISSN 1460-8324.
18. "Updated TRE schedule begins Sept. 5". Trinity Metro. August 18, 2023. Retrieved November 26, 2023.

External links

Template:Attached KML/Trinity Railway Express

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•   Media related to Trinity Railway Express at Wikimedia Commons
• Official website