DALLAS Area Rapid Transit (Dart) is to start test running this month of its eight new Stadler DMUs. They are due to enter service in late 2025 on Dart’s Silver Line, a 42km 10-station commuter route connecting Dallas Fort Worth International Airport with Shiloh Road in Plano, via Grapevine, Coppell, Carrollton, Addison and Richardson.
Test running will start on the Trinity Railway Express (TRE), a 54.4km commuter rail line between Fort Worth and Dallas, that is jointly owned and operated by Dart and Trinity Metro. Trial running will then move to Silver Line tracks this summer, starting with the section between Shiloh Road and CityLine/Bush station in Richardson.
Testing will continue over the autumn between Knoll Trail station in Dallas and Terminal B station at Dallas Airport. The final stage of trial running will take place in early 2025 between CityLine/Bush and Knoll Trail.
Dart says testing on these different sections is necessary “to ensure each portion of track along the alignment functions as needed and the vehicle responds accordingly.” End-to-end testing is planned for summer 2025.
Stadler was awarded a $US 119m contract to supply eight Flirt DMUs in 2019, each comprising one power car and four passenger cars. All were assembled at the manufacturer’s Salt Lake City plant, with the last arriving in Dallas earlier this year.
Dart expects to operate five Flirts in normal service, with three in reserve. Weekday services are planned to operate between 06.00 and 21.00 every hour basis, with half-hourly headways at peak times.
“The goal is to operate these vehicles and ensure that all the systems are operating as they should while running, stopping, and starting on the tracks,” says Mr Anthony Fuller, vice-president of Silver Line Maintenance and Operation. “Much like a new car before it’s put in the showroom, we want to make sure that everything is ready to go from day one for our customers.”
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