A-train to Dallas area in service today

70 minute trip from Denton

David Crossley, Jun 20, 11.

Denton County Transportation Authority officials were singing the praises of their new A-train railway system on Thursday, according to a story in the Dallas Morning News.

“It’s an exciting time for us,” Tom LeBeau, vice president for rail program development, said as the A-train pulled out of Trinity Mills Station in Carrollton for a ceremonial ride along the 21-mile route. It took a group of officials and the media on a northbound trek through Lewisville, Highland Village and Corinth, to the line’s terminus at the Downtown Denton Transit Center.

The long-awaited A-train, scheduled to start service at 5 a.m. Monday, is Denton County’s first foray into commuter rail service. Officials say it will provide Denton commuters with a 70-minute trip to Dallas, relieve traffic congestion along Interstate 35E and spur development around the five stations along its route.

Officials expect the $320 million railway will draw 4,000 to 5,000 passengers a day. And that number could easily double when the I-35E expansion project begins. The 28-mile, $4.4 billion road construction project, which will widen the highway from Dallas to Denton, is expected to take five to seven years to complete.

“This is a great time to start A-train service,” said Charles Emery, chairman of the transportation authority. “It will be an alternative for people who drive the interstate.”

He said the A-train project is already becoming an engine for transit-oriented development. A mixed-use project is planned around the Hebron Station, near Hebron Parkway in the southern part of Lewisville. The proposed project includes residential, office and commercial space on a 90-acre tract.

Emery said similar developments should spring up around the other four stations along the A-train route.

“We’ll see the type of development that DART has seen around their stations,” he predicted.