From turmoil, DART takes shape - Dallas Area Rapid Transit - includes related articles

Railway Age, Sept, 1994 by William D. Middleton

Morrison Knudsen Engineers, Inc., has been in charge of system design. Principal sub-consultants include LTK Engineering Services for vehicles and fare collection, and Thomas K. Dyer, Inc., for signaling and communications. O'Brien Kreitzberg & Associates, Inc., has been responsible for project control. Principal section designers for the work have included Turner, Collie & Braden; HDR Engineering, Inc.; Huitt-Zollars, Inc.; Sasaki Associates; Carter & Burgess, Inc.; Kimley Horn; Lockwood, Andrews & Newman; Espey-Huston; Dikita Enterprises; Gutierrez, Smouse & Wilmot; and Gannett Fleming. Construction mangers selected for each section have included Stone & Webster Engineering Corp.; Beck Program Management; HDR; Yandell-Hiller; and Construction Engineering Consultants. DART staff are handling construction management for the final South Central-2 line section.

* An intermodal center. Once a major intercity rail terminal, the massive, neoclassical Dallas Union Station is taking on an important new intermodal transportation center role in the region's growing rail transit system. In addition to serving as the station for Amtrak's Texas Eagle services linking the city with Chicago, Houston, and San Antonio, Union Station will become the Dallas terminal for new DFW International Airport regional rail service, and an important station on the main trunk line of the region's planned 67-mile light rail system (see sidebar, p. 70). And if a high speed rail system ever gets built in Texas, the station could become its Dallas terminal.

Located at the west end of the Dallas central business district, the Union Station building itself has been converted to office, ballroom, and banquet facilities, and is adjacent to the Reunion Arena used by the city's professional basketball and hockey teams, a major hotel, and the popular West End restaurant and entertainment area.

Work is already in progress to modify Union Station's track layout to accommodate the new rail services. Two existing tracks for freight operation through the terminal area have been revised and relocated to accommodate the additional passenger tracks. Working from west to east, construction crews are establishing three new passenger platforms. Amtrak trains will use the westernmost platform, which can also be used for commuter rail services when necessary. A center platform will accommodate commuter trains on one side and southbound DART light rail trains on the other, while the third platform will serve northbound light rail services. Design of the platform canopies will be similar to that of DART's downtown light rail stations, while canopy column cladding will follow the architecture of the historic Union Station building. Brick-paved walkways will connect the platforms, while an existing pedestrian tunnel that links Union Station with the nearby Hyatt hotel will be accessible by stairs and an elevator.

* Expanding light rail. With the end in sight for the starter system, DART planners are turning their attention to later sections called for in the 1989 service plan. Most likely to move ahead next are a 10.2-mile extension in the Noah Central corridor to PIano, and an 11.5-mile Norteast corridor line branching from the North Central line at Mockingbird Lane to Garland. Both lines would operate in former railroad rights-of-way acquired by DART. A draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) and preliminary engineering to about the 10% design level are under way for the North Central line, and DART is pursuing a letter of no prejudice agreement with FTA. Studies for the Northeast line are not far behind, and DART is just beginning the development of a Major Investment Study (MIS), which replaces the Alternatives Analysis/DEIS in the federal process.