TEXRail Opens

[BigTex]

I rode the TexRail 2 days ago, Jan 31. The last free day.

There were tons of empty seats.  Approx 10 passengers boarded at each station. Most were seniors checking it out and young families.

I clocked my train at 78 mph. Got a screen capture at 77mph. 

I wonder what the max speed limit is on this track.  The TexRail website says "speeds up to 70 mph"

 

[Devil's Advocate]

Yeah - but Texas is good at recouping their cost via tolls.

Hundreds of millions of dollars of public debt that has been carelessly wasted on private tollways would disagree with you.

 

[BigTex]

Wasted money.

Boondoggle.

TexRail estimates 8,000 daily riders @ $2.50 each.  It's a joke to think that they can run 4 trains for $20,000 a day, before costs & expenses...  It's just another Black Hole Money Pit.

Oh. No food or drinks allowed!   I guess the morning riders will be pissed enough to go via another means! 

 

[Rover]

Hundreds of millions of dollars of public debt that has been carelessly wasted on private tollways would disagree with you.

Agree. They built the George Bush tollway with not enough lanes, and they are paying big time to widen them. They initially built all those toll booths, and now it's all electronic, and no toll takers.

 

[Bob Dylan]

Ditto for the Money Pits around the Austin Metro area! :angry:

 

[Rover]

 

[saxman]

New trains sets will help to beef up the once an hour headway schedule. Grapevine is building a huge development right at its station to include a hotel. I think North Richland Hills has plans for one. They need to work on the connection to the stockyards in North Fort Worth. So close, yes so far. That's what you get for only using old ROW, but I understand the expense of not doing so. Hopefully one day they can extend the line into SW Fort Worth. DART is now working on its final improvements for the eastern half of the Cotton Belt which will go from DFW Airport to Plano with a mini-rail hub in Carrollton, and another transit hub in Addison.

 

[Rover]

DART is now working on its final improvements for the eastern half of the Cotton Belt which will go from DFW Airport to Plano with a mini-rail hub in Carrollton, and another transit hub in Addison.

On the local news tonight they mentioned that the Cotton Belt will also be using Stadler FLIRTs, 8 of them.

https://www.railwayage.com/passenger/commuterregional/dart-flirts-with-stadler-for-119m-contract/

https://www.star-telegram.com/news/traffic/honkin-mad-blog/article231119208.html

 

[Rover]

https://ridetrinitymetro.org/bus-bridge-planned-for-overnight-texrail-service-dec-9-13/

Bus bridge planned for overnight TEXRail service Dec. 9-13

Rider Alert
(FORT WORTH, TX – Dec. 4, 2019) – To prepare for the implementation of positive train control on TEXRail, a limited number of service interruptions will occur between midnight and 4 a.m. Monday through Friday, Dec. 9-13, while testing is conducted, as required by the Federal Railroad Administration.

For TEXRail #275, which departs the airport at 11:40 p.m., a bus bridge will be in effect between Mercantile Center Station and Fort Worth T&P Station. TEXRail will operate from DFW Airport Terminal B Station and terminate at Mercantile Center Station at 12:14 a.m.

TEXRail #278, which departs Fort Worth T&P Station at 11:43 p.m., will terminate at North Side Station at 11:55 p.m. and will not continue to the airport.

TEXRail #212 will start at 4:01 a.m. from Mercantile Center Station during the testing period.
The remaining trains (277, 280, 179, 182, 181, 111 and 110) will not offer passenger service during the testing.

 

[Rover]

I rode the TexRail today from DFW N to Iron Horse. Between Smithfield and Iron Horse, I saw something I don't ever remember seeing before. At a crossing, there was a pedestrian path/bike path that had it's own small crossing arm that was lowered as we passed.

All this week TexRail is free.

https://ridetrinitymetro.org/rider-services/zipzone/

 

[saxman]

I rode the TexRail today from DFW N to Iron Horse. Between Smithfield and Iron Horse, I saw something I don't ever remember seeing before. At a crossing, there was a pedestrian path/bike path that had it's own small crossing arm that was lowered as we passed.

All this week TexRail is free.

https://ridetrinitymetro.org/rider-services/zipzone/

Yeah, those small crossing arms can be all over various places. The bike trail is all along the route and I plan on riding it when it gets cooler.

 

[cirdan]

I rode the TexRail today from DFW N to Iron Horse. Between Smithfield and Iron Horse, I saw something I don't ever remember seeing before. At a crossing, there was a pedestrian path/bike path that had it's own small crossing arm that was lowered as we passed.

All this week TexRail is free.

https://ridetrinitymetro.org/rider-services/zipzone/

Thanks for that report.

What was ridership like?

 

[Rover]

Thanks for that report.

What was ridership like?

Very light at 1:30pm.