Denton County, Texas, Transit Authority works out deal with DART

A weight on Denton County Transportation Authority officials' shoulders has been lifted as board members approved terms of the corridor agreement with DART, the Denton Record Chronicle reports. The agreement will allow the DCTA's A-train passenger rail to operate in the rail corridor owned by Dallas Area Rapid Transit. n, which will save citizens of Denton County and the agency operating dollars.

Under the terms of the
agreement, DCTA will have full rights to operate and be responsible for any
maintenance and any agreements between the railroad and any adjacent cities for
a 20-year period, with one 20-year renewal option, while DART maintains
ownership of the corridor. DART owns the right to reactive rail service on the
former Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad line.

The Denton City Council
previously approved the transfer of Denton’s piece of the rail corridor north
of Swisher Road to DART, which helped move along the agreement between DART and
DCTA.

DART’s board of directors
must still approve the agreement, but DART spokesman Morgan Lyons said he did
not see the possibility of any holdups.

Dee Leggett, DCTA’s vice
president of communications and planning, said DCTA and DART officials have
been working on the rights agreement since the alignment for the A-train was
chosen in 2006. Officials have been pushing for the agreement with a renewed
fervor the past 18 months after receiving funding last year for the rail.

"DART and DCTA always
knew the agreement would happen; it was just finalizing the terms," Leggett
said.

The A-train, a 21-mile
commuter rail line from Carrollton to Denton, remains on schedule with this
agreement, she said.

"It just ensures we will
transition from construction to full operation without any delays and gives us
further confirmation the A-train will come online soon," she said.

Tom LeBeau, vice
president of rail development and capital projects, said the agreement has been
a long time coming and complimented DART on being a good regional partner and
sister agency as officials worked through the process. He noted that DART gave
DCTA a right of entry to work in areas of the corridor while the process played
out.

"It’s a very, very
significant milestone, not only in the history of DCTA but the completion of
the A-train project," he said. "It finalizes our partnership with DART and
completion of this project for North Texas and the citizens of Denton County."

The next step is for
officials to come to terms on a joint operations and maintenance agreement to
use the existing operator, Trinity Railway Express, to operate the A-trai