A-train Commuter Rail CMGC Implementation – Denton County Transportation Authority (DCTA)
Denton Texas
This $300 million CMGC rail project extended commuter rail service 21 miles from DART’s Green Line in Carrollton to downtown Denton. It included 26 miles of trackwork, including 5 miles of double track and sidings; six bridges (including an historic rail bridge); embankment work; retaining and sound walls; utility relocations within an advanced utility package; and a vehicle operations and maintenance facility. Located along the old Denton Branch (formerly Union Pacific Railroad), the alignment is a shared corridor with a Class 1 railroad operator for approximately 10 miles of the 21-mile corridor. LAN led a joint-venture to provide project management support services, including planning, procurement, design, and construction management services. The scope of the project also included implementation of bus service to support the introduction of the A-Train rail service.
LAN was brought on with the CMGC contractor to provide the owner staff augmentation and support in managing the contractor and the design team. The firm provided the program manager, who led negotiation of the guaranteed maximum price (GMP); design review support for track, civil, mechanical-electrical-plumbing, and architecture elements; value engineering and constructability review services; and inspection, commissioning, start-up services, and third-party coordination. LAN led all coordination efforts including public outreach in conjunction with DCTA. The project spanned two counties and six municipalities and involved other stakeholders including the Texas Department of Transportation, (TxDOT), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), and power and water utility owners. Additional coordination was required with BNSF Railway, Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR), and Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART). This varying and differing range of stakeholders required continuous dialogue to keep the project moving.
LAN also designed and provided the construction management on DCTA rail vehicle maintenance facility. The 56,000-square-foot maintenance facility includes offices, dispatch, fueling, vehicle wash, turntable, inspections pits, and storage track. The facility was initially designed to maintain Budd RDC vehicles but was modified to also service Stadler GTW vehicles. Special care was taken while designing the exhaust collection system, jacking points for 25-ton floor jacks, and the wash facility to ensure both vehicles could be served from the same building. Anticipating future capacity, the facility was also designed to be expandable to 76,000 square feet.
At a glance
21 miles of track
Saved $30M through value engineering
Alleviates congestion on the I-35E corridor
Carries passengers from downtown Denton to Carrollton
Features
First light rail vehicle to function in a shared environment with freight locomotives and without a temporal separation
Stadler GTW fleet improved vehicle fuel efficiency by 67%
56,000 SF maintenance facility
Services
Construction Mgmt & Inspection
Design
Land & Site Devel
Structural Engineering
Transportation Services
Client
Denton County Transportation Authority