A future passenger rail line that will connect Plano to the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport is getting a name change.
The east-west-running rail service will be called the Silver Line. It was previously called the Cotton Belt line, but that changed after the Dallas Area Rapid Transit board of directors voted June 18 to make the name change. The track will still run through the historic Cotton Belt corridor.
When complete, the 26-mile track will span from Shiloh Road in Plano to Terminal B at the DFW Airport. It will pass through seven cities, including Grapevine, Coppell, Dallas, Carrollton, Addison, Richardson and Plano.
The Silver Line project is expected to be complete in 2022 and will provide service at 30-minute intervals during peak traffic hours. Off-peak hours will have 60-minute service intervals.
Construction on the line is expected to begin sometime this year.
On May 28, the board of directors contracted the construction of
eight new diesel trains to service the Silver Line.
Each train will seat 230 passengers and measure 318 feet long, according to a June 3 DART news release. The diesel motors used in the trains meet some of the strictest Environmental Protection Agency emissions regulations for non-road engines and vehicles.
