Trinity Metro to expand its TEXRail service starting Sunday

The commute for those who take Tarrant County's TEXRail, serving DFW Airport to Fort Worth, is about to get a little easier. 

Starting Sunday, Trinity Metro will nearly double the number of trips its trains take daily. During peak hours, the wait between trains will be cut in half.

Adam Kolodny rides TEXRail several times a week as part of his work commute from Plano to Fort Worth.

“Every day, I take two trains and two buses to work,” he said. “It’s a three-hour commute each way.”

So any way to cut down on Kolodny’s wait time is welcome. He’s looking forward to TEXRail's expanded service with more trains and pickup times along the 27-mile-route between Fort Worth and DFW Airport.

“And I’m hoping that this will give me maybe a half hour head start maybe,” he said.

Starting Sunday, TEXRail will go from operating three trains to six trains that will make roughly 70 stops a day at each station. During the peak ridership hours of 5 to 10 a.m. and 3 to 8 p.m., trains will stop every 30 minutes instead of every hour.

Trinity Metro President Bob Baulsir says in the last 6 months since TEXRail made its debut, his staff has been testing the trains and working the bugs out of the system.

“We’ve noticed a steady increase in passengers every month,” he said. “But we knew that we’d have to get to the 30-minute headways to really start to see the numbers grow.”

With the new schedule, trains will also run earlier and later. The first train leaving DFW Airport is now 15 minutes earlier at 4:40 a.m. The last train of the day will leave the Fort Worth Central Station takes off more than an hour later than before at 12:47 a.m.

All of the changes are good news for TCC student Jason Wilson, who commutes from Bedford.

“Much more relieved,” he said. “I’d be able to tell my team members or my supervisors instead of being this late, I’ll be there a little bit quicker.”