Grapevine TEXRail station reports decline in ridership during COVID-19 surge

Updated at 2:55 p.m. Feb. 4: This story has been updated to reflect new information.

TEXRail reported Jan. 25 that Grapevine’s Main Street station saw fewer than half the riders in November 2020 than it did before the coronavirus pandemic in November 2019, the most recent data available.

On Saturdays, the Grapevine station’s busiest day, the average number of riders on the commuter rail line dropped from 397 in November 2019 to 135 in November 2020.

Ridership across the entire TEXRail system dropped at the start of the pandemic but had been trending upward with ridership hitting 19,452 in October before dipping in November to 17,803, mostly due to declines in weekend ridership.

November saw an average of 628 riders per work day on the commuter rail service overall, the highest since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Jon-Erik “AJ” Arjanen, TEXRail vice president and chief operating officer, said those numbers indicate essential workers continue to use the rail system to get to work.

The TEXRail commuter rail system connects Dallas Fort Worth International Airport to the Grapevine station and then south through North Richland Hills and Fort Worth.

TEXRail, which began operating in 2019, has performed slightly better during the pandemic than other “legacy” rail systems, Arjanen said.