Dallas Area Rapid Transit

DART is updating its fleet of 115 light rail vehicles (LRV) by inserting a new, low-floor insert between the existing sections of the vehicle adding seating capacity and improving access through level boarding. The newly modified vehicles began service on June 23, 2008 with car #151.

Known as Super Light Rail Vehicles (SLRV) because of the greater length and added passenger capacity, the SLRV will seat approximately 100 passengers compared with 75 on the current vehicles. Standing passengers on the vehicle can nearly double the capacity.

The SLRVs - designed in partnership with rail vehicle manufacturer Kinkisharyo of Osaka, Japan - feature level boarding which will allow passengers with disabilities - plus people with strollers, bicycles and the like - to step or roll directly onto the trains without using mechanical lifts. This, in turn, enables faster and safer boarding and deboarding.

To take full advantage of the level-boarding function, DART will need to modify all current stations, except Victory Station, which was built to accommodate level-boarding at the time it was constructed. The platform work began in November 2007 and will continue for two years. The platform improvements also will enable DART to operate longer, three-car trains through the Dallas CBD. For customers using wheelchairs, it's important to note DART will continue using high-block boarding areas at the stations until the platform work is complete. To ensure access, customers using wheelchairs will need to continue boarding from the high block area during the platform modification.

Because the initial SLRVs are modifications of the current fleet of 115 LRVs, they also have another advantage: the inserts are less expensive than full-sized cars.

DART's first SLRV, Car #170, went into service on the Blue Line in 2002 as a prototype. DART began taking delivery of the rail car inserts in late Winter 2008. The first SLRVs beyond #170 are scheduled to be in revenue service by late Spring or early Summer 2008. Each of DART's current 115 rail cars will be retrofitted with the new insert.

Key points

• Super Light Rail Vehicles (SLRVs) seat approximately 25 more people than the standard DART Light Rail Vehicle (which seats approximately 75 and has capacity for up to 150 passengers seated and standing).
  
  
• The SLRVs will allow passengers with disabilities – plus people with strollers, bicycles, etc. - to step or roll directly onto the trains without using mechanical lifts.
  
  
• A standard DART LRV is 92 feet, 8 inches long and weighs 107,000 pounds. The insert weighs 33,000 pounds and will add 31 feet to the vehicle.
  
  
• Each of DART's 115 light rail vehicles will be converted into super light rail vehicles (SLRVs) with the addition of the low-floor rail car insert.
  
  
• The insert kit (the car exterior, or shell, railcar truck, etc.) arrives at a DART assembly facility in Northwest Dallas from Japan. Once assembled, the car is delivered via flatbed trailer to a final assembly point near DART's current service and inspection facility near Fair Park where it is installed.
  
  
• During its conversion an LRV is first separated at the articulation point - the place between the two car sections where the vehicle bends and the low-floor car is inserted.
  
  
• It takes approximately five weeks to convert the LRV to an SLRV. From there it is turned over to DART staff for testing, modifications as needed, and final acceptance.
  
  
• The first SLRVs will begin revenue service in Summer 2008. The $190 million light rail vehicle conversion is scheduled for completion before the end of 2010.
  
  
• To support level boarding, DART's existing station platforms are being raised approximately seven inches. This effort will take approximately two years.
  
  
• The SLRV and level boarding projects will be completed in support of the DART Rail Green Line project, a 28-mile $1.8 billion project which will open in stages starting in September 2009 and will be completed in December 2010.
  
  
• The first phase of the Green Line is a four-station section connecting the current Pearl Station on the east end of Downtown Dallas with Fair Park and South Dallas. That section is scheduled to open in time for the State Fair of Texas in September 2009. Daily service to Victory Station near the American Airlines Center is scheduled to begin then as well.
  
  
• The second phase of the Green Line project extends the corridor from Fair Park southeast to Pleasant Grove. From Victory Station the line will travel through Northwest Dallas to Farmers Branch and Carrollton.

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Additional resources

• News Media Contact: Morgan Lyons, 214.749.2662, mlyons@DART.org

• DART Rail Facts: www.DART.org/newsroom/dartrailfacts.asp

• DART construction project updates: www.DART.org/constructionupdates

• DART News Feeds: www.DART.org/RSS

• DART Newsroom: www.DART.org/newsroom


Keywords: DART, DART Rail, Kinkisharyo, KinkiSharyo, C-car, light rail, Green Line, Carrollton, Farmers Branch, Fair Park, Pleasant Grove


Permanent link: www.DART.org/factsheet/SLRV


Updated 10.14.08

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