By Tricia White
Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) celebrated an important milestone with the ceremonial groundbreaking of its new Silver Line Equipment Maintenance Facility on Oct. 24.
Speaking to a gathered crowd, DART President and CEO Nadine Lee, told the invited elected officials, federal agency representatives, business executives and DART employees about the benefits of the new facility and its impact to the surrounding area.
“We are grateful to our partners at the City of Plano for sharing the vision of bringing this facility to Plano, allowing DART to continue investing our agency’s assets into our member cities and growing transit opportunities across the DART’s service area,” Lee said. “The Silver Line is a major piece to solving the mobility puzzle in North Texas by providing a strong east to west connection between Plano and DFW Airport.”
The new facility is being built behind a 20,000+-square foot office building DART purchased earlier this year at 3201 Technology Drive in Plano’s industrial district. The purchased office building will serve as the operations and maintenance home for Silver Line staff once the regional rail is in revenue service.
“The Silver Line EMF is proof that it takes a lot of various groups working together to deliver a project that will benefit many.”
Dee Leggett, DART Executive VP
Construction will take place within DART’s rail right-of-way (approximately 14 acres), near the end of the Silver Line track alignment and a few hundred feet from the Shiloh Road Station, causing minimal impact on road traffic and the surrounding area. The facility will feature two new buildings for the Silver Line vehicles to be housed, cleaned, and maintained as well as an underground fueling tank, a canopy structure for cover when dispensing fuel and a storage yard for all the vehicles.
By working with Plano officials to secure the construction of a full maintenance facility, DART saved over $30 million in capital costs and almost $1 million in annual operating expenses in comparison to a shared facility off the Silver Line alignment, which was discussed. The proximity to an existing station also reduces the number of “deadhead” or empty trips needed to begin daily operations and provides DART personnel quicker and easier responses to any track- or vehicle-related issues once the Silver Line is in service.
“The Silver Line EMF is proof that it takes a lot of various groups working together to deliver a project that will benefit many,” said Dee Leggett, DART executive vice president of development. “With the area’s continued growth, we believe DART having a dedicated presence in Plano is a win for everyone.”
“The Silver Line is a major piece to solving the mobility puzzle in North Texas by providing a strong east to west connection between Plano and DFW Airport.”
Nadine Lee, DART President and CEO
Once constructed, the Silver Line EMF would become just the fourth regional rail facility in the North Texas region and the only one in Collin County, joining Irving (TRE), Lewisville (DCTA) and Fort Worth (Trinity Metro). DART anticipates the entire 40,000 square foot complex to house 65 current and new permanent employees with additional room to grow in the future.
Residents and commuters in the area have familiarized themselves with Silver Line trains over the past few months. DART has been operating simulated test runs between the Shiloh Road Station in Plano and the University of Texas at Dallas Station in Richardson since this summer. Testing in other segments of the 26-mile alignment, which runs from Plano to DFW Airport, will continue until revenue service begins late next year or early 2026.
To learn more about the Silver Line Regional Rail project, please visit www.dart.org/silverline.