DENTON, Texas — The Denton County Transportation Authority’s A-Train, a 21-mile commuter line operating between Denton and Carrollton, Texas, has announced plans for a 2-mile extension, allowing a direct connection to rail service to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.
The agency announced last week that it will extend the line from its current southern endpoint — the Trinity Mills station in north Carrollton — to the Dallas Area Rapid Transit’s Downtown Carrollton station, to be used by the commuter rail Silver Line. From there, it will be three stops on the Silver Line to Terminal B at DFW airport. Without the extension, A-Train passengers would need to change to DART’s light rail Green Line for one stop, then switch to the Silver Line.
The DCTA did not immediately announce a timeline for the project, but the Denton Record-Chronicle reports it will come after the Silver Line begins running late this year or in early 2026.
Currently, to reach DFW airport by rail, A-Train passengers must take a roundabout route involving riding on the Green line for five stops, then changing to the Orange Line for seven stops to the airport’s Terminal A.
The DCTA says it also plans to work to increase the speed of its route, and in the long term to add track and signal capacity to allow trains to run on 15-minute headways during peak periods. Currently, trains run on 30-minute headways for most of the day.
Now, if DCTA were less timid, they would ask DART for trackage rights over the Silver Line from Downtown Carrollton to DFWIA-B to provide through service, rather than requiring a change of vehicle at Carrollton. DCTA could do that without buying additional vehicles by sharing “standby” equipment with DART. It would require some minor additional track work at Downtown Carrollton but is well within the range of the possible.
As indicated in the second map, the A-line’s current southern endpoint is Trinity Mills, not North Carrollton which it does not serve.