Media Relations Contact:
Morgan Lyons
Mark A. Ball

June 23, 2009

Opens December 2013

Board sets Orange Line connection to DFW Airport

The final section of the DART Rail Orange Line will connect to Terminal A at DFW International Airport in December 2013. The Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) Board of Directors made the decision following a staff recommendation for direct terminal access from the future Belt Line Station on airport property.

Construction on the first two sections of the Orange Line, from the future Bachman Station in northwest Dallas to Las Colinas and then to Belt Line Station, began earlier this year. The sections are scheduled to open in December 2011 and 2012 respectively. A contract for the final section to the airport is scheduled to be awarded next year.

The Board vote also adds a future light rail connection from the Orange Line to the Cotton Belt, a DART-owned rail line that crosses through airport property north of SH 114. This would provide additional rail access to the airport. Information on the Orange Line is available at www.DART.org/factsheet/orangeline.

DART owns 52 miles of the Cotton Belt, presently in use as a freight rail line, between the Collin County city of Wylie and Fort Worth. DART's long-range plan is to connect the Red Line in the Plano/Richardson area to DFW Airport in 2027. The Fort Worth T currently has plans to operate rail service by 2013 on the western half of the Cotton Belt between Fort Worth and the airport as part of their Southwest/Northeast project. DART and the T are also exploring a public private partnership to accelerate the start of Cotton Belt passenger rail service. Information on the Cotton Belt project is available at www.DART.org/cottonbeltppp.

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