Project

The DART 2030 Transit System Plan (TSP), approved in October 2006, identified the Cotton Belt Corridor as a priority project. In 2021, DART advanced implementation of the Cotton Belt to the year 2024 in its FY2022 Twenty-Year Financial Plan. The DART 2045 Transit System Plan, which is under development, will reflect this change to the project schedule. The proposed project would be financed through a new federal loan program called Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing (RRIF) and bonds. The project assumes a phased approach of a double-track commuter rail line.

The 26-mile Cotton Belt Corridor extends between DFW Airport and Shiloh Road in Plano (see map). The alignment traverses seven cities: Grapevine, Coppell, Dallas, Carrollton, Addison, Richardson and Plano. The Silver Line/Cotton Belt Regional Rail Project’s primary purpose is to provide passenger rail connections and service that will improve mobility, accessibility and system linkages to major employment, population and activity centers in the northern part of the DART Service Area. The Silver Line/Cotton Belt Regional Rail Project would interface with three DART LRT lines: The Red Line in Richardson/Plano, the Green Line in Carrollton and the Orange Line at DFW Airport. Also at DFW Airport the project would connect to Fort Worth Transit Authority's TEXRail Regional Rail Line to Fort Worth and the DFW Airport Skylink People Mover. 

DART has completed an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to assess the impacts and benefits of rail passenger service on the Cotton Belt Corridor. Project oversight will be conducted by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) in cooperation with the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

For more information, visit https://www.dart.org/about/expansion/cottonbelt.asp