August 27, 2025 - TRA Newswire -

Construction on the 26-mile long Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) Silver Line just took a leap forward when the final tie was installed on tracks in Coppell this week.

When the line opens by the end of this year across three counties, trains will link Plano, Richardson, Dallas and Addison with Carrollton, Coppell and Grapevine and terminate at DFW International Airport. 

In a statement on Linkedin, Walsh Group - which is made up of Walsh Construction & Archer Western Herzog, said "we are honored to help lead the delivery of Silver Line; creating new travel opportunities and improving mobility for communities across North Texas."

Construction has been ongoing for five years and faced delays during the pandemic, but is on track to start serving passengers with a soon to be announced start date by the end of December. New rail was laid for the project and the ties are all concrete, rather than timber, which means they will last longer and make the trains run quieter. The total cost of the project is around $2 billion.

The Silver Line will connect with the DART Red and Orange Line trains in Richardson and with the Green Line in Carrollton. Local industries along the rail line will still be served by local short line operators during overnight hours. 

DART is starting to activate Quiet Zones along most of the 26-mile rail alignment. A DART statement said "once quiet zones are activated, residents, motorists, and pedestrians will no longer consistently hear the train horn as the vehicles approach a rail crossing or station. Train horns will only be used when necessary for safety, such as an object on or near the track obstructing the train’s path forward." 

“Safety has been one of our biggest priorities as we’ve pushed through on this project, so we want to thank everyone for their patience as we’ve worked through all the requirements needed with FRA officials to get these quiet zones active,” said Trey Walker, DART Vice President of Capital Programs.  

Photo credit: DART