The Blue Line is a light rail line in the system of

mass transit Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typical ...

Dallas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

( USA), operated by the

Dallas Area Rapid Transit Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) is a transit agency serving the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex of Texas. It operates buses, light rail, commuter rail, and high-occupancy vehicle lanes in Dallas and twelve of its suburbs. In , the system ha ...

system. Along with the , it is one of the original modern rail lines in Dallas.

Route

The southern terminus of the line is currently at UNT Dallas in south Dallas at University Hills Blvd. just south of Camp Wisdom Rd. The line runs north, under the

Dallas Convention Center The Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center (KBHCCD) (formerly Dallas Convention Center) is a convention center in the Convention Center District of downtown Dallas, Texas. The "Dallas Memorial Auditorium" was a standalone multipurpose arena, de ...

and through downtown Dallas. After leaving Mockingbird, the line diverts to the northeast towards White Rock Lake. The line then goes north and then east into Garland, finally ending in Rowlett.

History

The rail line was part of the initial launch of DART's light rail service in 1996. At the time, the line only ran from

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rock ...

Pearl A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle) of a living shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pearl is composed of calcium carb ...

in the northeast corner of downtown. In 1997, the Blue Line was extended south to Ledbetter and was extended along the Red Line to Mockingbird in 1999, in preparation for the future extension to Garland. On September 24, 2001, the Blue Line extended to White Rock, just northwest of White Rock Lake. On May 6, 2002, the Blue Line was extended to the LBJ/Skillman, just beyond LBJ Freeway (Interstate 635). It was extended to Downtown Garland on November 18, 2002, and to its current northern terminus, Downtown Rowlett, on December 3, 2012.DART Blue Line launches long-awaited rail service in Rowlett
. Retrieved December 3, 2012. DART's 2030 Transit System Plan, approved in October 2006, calls for the Blue Line to be extended south beyond Ledbetter to the University of North Texas at Dallas, as well as a branch along Bonnie View road to

Interstate 20 Interstate 20 (I‑20) is a major east–west Interstate Highway in the Southern United States. I-20 runs beginning at an interchange with I-10 in Scroggins Draw, Texas, and ending at an interchange with I-95 in Florence, South Carolina. Betwe ...

and the SouthPort Intermodal Terminal. The plan also includes a new

Lake Highlands Lake Highlands is a neighborhood constituting most of Northeast Dallas. The neighborhood is a collection of dozens of subdivisions served by Richardson ISD and Dallas ISD public schools, as well as an array of private schools. Geography Overview ...

station near Skillman Street and Walnut Hill Lane, which opened as DART's second infill station in December 2010. In October 2014, construction began for a 2.6-mile extension south from Ledbetter station to the University of North Texas at Dallas, adding two new stations to the line: Camp Wisdom and UNT Dallas. The extension opened for service on October 24, 2016.

Future plans

The

D2 Subway D2 Subway is a proposed expansion of the DART Light Rail system in metropolitan Dallas, Texas, in the United States. The subway would run from the existing Victory station, tunneling underground through the central business district of downtown ...

is planned to be implemented in 2028 and will reroute the Blue Line off of the downtown transit corridor and over the former Green Line's western segment to terminate at North Carrollton/Frankford station.

Stations

Daily Service

:''Listed from north to south''

Special Event Service

* Deep Ellum (Also served by ) * Baylor University Medical Center (Also served by ) *

Fair Park Fair Park is a recreational and educational complex in Dallas, Texas, United States, located immediately east of downtown. The area is registered as a Dallas Landmark and National Historic Landmark; many of the buildings were constructed for t ...

(Also served by ) *

Victory The term victory (from Latin ''victoria'') originally applied to warfare, and denotes success achieved in personal combat, after military operations in general or, by extension, in any competition. Success in a military campaign constitutes ...

(Also served by , )

Deferred

* Knox-Henderson Station in Uptown (Dallas)

Gallery

File:Akard Station.jpg, Southbound Blue Line train at Akard File:White Rock Station.jpg, Passengers at White Rock

References

External links

Map of the Blue Line
(to scale)
Full DART System Map
{{Dallas Area Rapid Transit Dallas Area Rapid Transit light rail lines Passenger rail transportation in Texas Transportation in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex