News & Reviews News Wire DART CEO says Dallas changes to Silver Line project have cost her agency $80 million

DART CEO says Dallas changes to Silver Line project have cost her agency $80 million

By Trains Staff | March 2, 2023

| Last updated on February 5, 2024


Transit agency, which was to refund excess sales tax to city, may retain some to offset costs

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Illustration of diesel multiple unit trainset
Stadler diesel multiple-unit trainsets will  be used on DART’s Silver Line commuter rail route. Stadler

DALLAS — Saying the city of Dallas has cost her agency more than $80 million through delays and changes to its planned Silver Line commuter rail project, Dallas Area Rapid Transit CEO Nadine Lee said Tuesday that DART may retain that amount out of some $111 million in excess sales tax revenue the transit organization was to distribute to the city.

The Dallas Morning News reports that Lee estimated city delays have cost the agency $50 million, while the city has requested another $30 million in improvements beyond what DART believes is necessary. She said the city has taken up to nine months to review plans that, by contract, it is supposed to review in 10 days.

Lee told a city transportation and infrastructure committee meeting, which included city council members as well as members of the DART board, “In my experience as a professional engineer, I have never seen a project have to revisit so many issues in this stage of design.”

Council members and other city officials pushed back at Lee’s comments, with council member Cara Mendolsohn asking DART to prove the city had caused the delays, while other city officials said the requested changes were to meet city, state, and federal standards.

The 26-mile Silver Line project, following a former Cotton Belt rail line, will run from DFW Airport to Plano, Texas [see “Dallas agency breaks ground …,” Trains News Wire, Sept. 20, 2019]. Like the already-operating TexRail line, connecting the airport to downtown Fort Worth, it will use Stadler FLIRT diesel multiple-unit trainsets. It is slated to open in 2024.

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