Work starts on $270 million TEXRail extension to the Medical District, with trains due in mid-2030

Officials turned the first dirt Thursday morning on a $270 million, 2.1-mile extension that will carry TEXRail trains south from downtown into the Near Southside and Medical District, the Fort Worth Report reported.

The ceremony took place at the site of the future Near Southside/Medical District Station, next to Baylor Scott & White All Saints Medical Center. Trinity Metro expects the extension to be finished in mid-2030.

What gets built

The commuter line now runs 27.2 miles between downtown Fort Worth and Dallas Fort Worth International Airport. The new segment will reach an area that, according to the Report, holds about 50,000 jobs.

• The station will sit on 1.76 acres at Luther Lane and Mistletoe Drive. Baylor Scott & White donated the land, and a 35-year ground lease gives Trinity Metro rights to build and maintain infrastructure there.
• The track will be a separate passenger line built on part of the Fort Worth & Western Railroad's freight corridor. A $6.1 million agreement with the railroad allows Trinity Metro to build the line and operate trains starting at downtown's T&P Station.
• The money comes from several federal and regional pots, including a $25 million U.S. Department of Transportation grant, Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality and Surface Transportation Block Grant funds, a pandemic relief appropriation and savings left over from the original TEXRail project, with support from the Regional Transportation Council.

What officials said

Trinity Metro President and CEO Rich Andreski said the idea grew out of an informal conversation four years ago with Michael Morris, the North Texas transportation director who leads the Regional Transportation Council. Andreski, who rides TEXRail to work, said the extension would give patients without cars and older residents who no longer drive a dependable way to reach medical appointments.

Mayor Mattie Parker said relations between the city and the transit agency were strained when she took office in 2021, and that there were many moments when leaders feared the project would not come together. She credited U.S. Rep. Roger Williams, R-Willow Park, with helping secure the federal grant.

Council member Elizabeth Beck, whose district includes the area, said neighborhood groups worked with Trinity Metro on the plans and called the new stop "the first stop of many." Officials said longer-range plans would push the line farther south to TCU and beside the Chisholm Trail Parkway as far as Tarleton State University's southwest Fort Worth campus. No timeline for those segments was given.

Gail Lyssy, the Federal Transit Administration's Region 6 administrator, said the original TEXRail line, launched in 2019 with $499 million in federal money, has carried almost 5 million riders.

The Report noted that Trinity Metro is one of its financial supporters.

Sources

fortworthreport.org