TX: Does Fort Worth need an urban rail line? Here’s what a study found

Fort Worth should continue to study whether it is feasible to build an urban rail network that would connect the city’s entertainment districts, according to a report from the mayor’s Urban Rail Committee.

The report’s findings, shared during a City Council work session March 4, provided an overview of the city’s transit needs along with a recap of previous efforts to stand up a downtown streetcar system in 2010. Mayor Mattie Parker formed the committee in May 2024.

The report reasoned that vehicle traffic over the next 20 years is only going to get worse, so the city should look at alternate ways to move people around.

One possibility would streetcar system to connect downtown to the Stockyards, Panther Island and Near Southside.

A similar system was proposed in 2010, but failed to garner enough support from the City Council to move forward with the more technical feasibility study.

One of the differences this time around is there’s more people moving between those districts, Parker said.

She pointed to the success of Trinity Metro’s Orange Line, which increased ridership by 35%. The line provides a dedicated bus route from downtown to the Stockyards.

The committee also brought together transit advocates with members of the city’s business and tourism community to get broader buy-in for a potential rail system, Parker said, adding that the group agreed on the need for a common sense approach to the city’s transportation needs.

It was important to make sure the city had community buy-in before diving into the more technical aspects of the project, said Trinity Metro CEO Rich Andreski.

The follow up study, which the report estimates will cost roughly $5 million, will look at those more technical aspects, including potential routes and what kinds of technology the system would use.

A follow up study will also allow the city and Trinity Metro to be transparent with the public about how much a potential system would cost, Parker said.

Transit can be very expensive, so you need transparency and buy-in on the front end to bring a project like this to fruition, she said.

The average construction cost per mile for a streetcar system is roughly $40 million, according to the city report.

It could also take roughly seven to 10 years to plan, design, and build an urban rail system, the report said.

Andreski said the city and Trinity Metro are looking at state and federal grant funding.

While he acknowledged that federal grants may be hard to come by with recent reorganization by the Trump Administration, Andreski argued that money invested into public transit has a 3-to-1 return on investment.

The report focuses on economic opportunities in booming areas of the city, and increased car traffic will be an economic drag on Fort Worth, he said.

These areas will need other forms of transit besides cars to make sure they continue to grow economically, he said.

Staff writer Jaime Moore-Carrillo contributed reporting.

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