TEX Rail Receives FTA Approval to Enter Engineering Phase

TEX Rail Receives FTA Approval to Enter Engineering Phase

Regulatory Milestone Allows The T to Move Toward Construction and Order Rail Cars

FORT WORTH (June 3, 2015) – Trinity Metro announced today that it has received approval from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) to advance TEX Rail into the Engineering Phase that immediately precedes the start of construction. Entering Engineering also authorizes Trinity Metro to place its order for the manufacture of rail vehicles so they can be completed, delivered, tested, and with time for operation training for staff prior to TEX Rail starting service in 2018.

The TEX Rail commuter rail will run on a 27-mile corridor with 10 stations from downtown Fort Worth, northeast across Tarrant County to Grapevine and into Terminal B at DFW Airport. It will have a projected average daily ridership of more than10,000 in its initial year of service.

“In addition to our appreciation for the Fort Worth FTA Region VI guidance and support through TEX Rail’s pre-construction phase, I also want to thank Trinity Metro’s TEX Rail Team, our TEX Rail partners, other stakeholders, and the TEX Rail Design Team. It was all of these entities working together that resulted in TEX Rail accomplishing this timely goal,” said Scott Mahaffey, Chair of Trinity Metro’s Board of Directors.