PLANO, Texas — Officials in the area north of Dallas have approved a study for proposed rail service between Plano and McKinney, Texas.
Public broadcaster KERA reports the Regional Transportation Council of the Metropolitan Planning Organization voted to approve resumption of the study at the council’s meeting on Thursday, March 12. The process of hiring consultants for the study was in progress last November when the project was stopped because of a funding dispute between Dallas Area Rapid Transit and some of its constituent cities. Plano had scheduled a vote to withdraw from DART, but has rescinded that plan after DART put forward a new funding plan, allowing the study to resume.
Dan Lamers of the North Central Texas Council of Governments told the council that the project could be an extension of DART’s light rail Red Line, or of the recently opened commuter rail Silver Line [see “DART to open commuter rail …,” Trains.com, Sept. 12, 2025]. Both terminate in Plano.
KERA reports DART CEO Nadine Lee said earlier this week that while DART owns the land for a route to McKinney, the city is not part of the current DART service area of Dallas and 12 nearby suburbs. She said “conversations at the regional level” will be needed to discuss the project.
Additional details on the study are available in the council’s meeting packet.
— Updated at 12:40 p.m. CT to add correct link to prior Trains.com article. To report news or errors, contact trainsnewswire@firecrown.com.
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Looking at the area on Google Earth, extending the Red line makes more sense. It’s already pointed in that direction on the old alignment, whereas the Silver line points east and would require much more reconstruction to extend north. That said, the north end of the old alignment has active freight traffic in McKinney, so adding the Red Line light rail could be more complex than the Silver Line commuter rail.