Downtown Plano station is a

DART light rail The DART light rail system serves the metropolitan area of Dallas, Texas. It is owned and operated by Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART). The system opened June 14, 1996 and serves 65 stations and four lines, covering : the , the , the , and th ...

station in

Plano, Texas Plano ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for "flat surface" /'plano/) is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, where it is the largest city in Collin County, Texas, Collin County. A small portion of Plano is located in Denton County, Texas, Denton Count ...

. The station is located in Plano's historic downtown district on the eastern side of Haggard Park. It serves the and, during peak periods, the .

History

Predecessor

The rail corridor through Downtown Plano was constructed by the

Houston and Texas Central Railway The Houston and Texas Central Railway (H&TC) was an 872-mile (1403-km) railway system chartered in Texas in 1848, with construction beginning in 1856. The line eventually stretched from Houston northward to Dallas and Denison, Texas, with branch ...

in the late 19th century. The corridor was purchased by

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 had a r ...

in 1988. The modern-day station site was previously used by the

Texas Electric Railway The Texas Electric Railway was a historic interurban railroad that operated from Dallas, Texas, to Denison, Corsicana, and Waco. It began operation in 1908 and through the merger of several companies became the largest interurban railway operat ...

interurban The interurban (or radial railway in Canada) is a type of electric railway, with tram-like electric self-propelled railcars which run within and between cities or towns. The term "interurban" is usually used in North America, with other terms u ...

line from 1908 to 1948 as a passenger station. The Texas Electric Railway's station building, now used by the Interurban Railway Museum, is located in Haggard Park.

Modern station

In 1996, DART released preliminary plans for a downtown Plano station, tentatively named 15th Street. The station would be an at-grade structure on the south side of 15th Street with a small parking lot. The station plan was controversial among downtown merchants, as it would require the demolition of an antique mall and would cause traffic congestion. In 1998, the city of Plano approved a different location north of 15th Street. This location was three times larger and able to accommodate redevelopment, though it did not include any long-term parking. The station was slated to open in 2003. In 2000, construction began on Transit Village, a $16 million

transit-oriented development In urban planning, transit-oriented development (TOD) is a type of Real estate development, urban development that maximizes the amount of Residential area, residential, business and leisure space within Pedestrian, walking distance of public t ...

directly adjacent to the station, which contained both apartments and retail space. In 2002, the city of Plano announced renovations to Haggard Park, which is also adjacent to the station. In March 2002, DART announced that construction of the North Central Corridor, which included Downtown Plano, was six months ahead of schedule. A sculpture of a

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, Fuel oil, oil or, rarely, Wood fuel, wood) to heat ...

-inspired horse, named "

Iron Horse ''Iron horse'' is a pervasive term (considered by the early twenty-first century to be transitioning into an archaic reference) for a steam locomotive and the railway on which it travels, originating in the early 1800s, when horses still powered ...

", was installed on the station platform. On December 7, 2002, DART held an opening ceremony for the station. Dubbed "Super Saturday", the event offered a free preview service between the Bush Turnpike, Downtown Plano, and Parker Road stations, as well as a Christmas parade. The ceremony also commemorated the 100th anniversary of the Northern Texas Traction Company, the first interurban in the modern-day

Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex The Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, officially designated Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, is the most populous metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. state of Texas and the Southern United States, ...

. The station officially opened the following Monday.

References

External links

Dallas Area Rapid Transit

Downtown Plano Station
Dallas Area Rapid Transit light rail stations Railway stations in the United States opened in 2002 2002 establishments in Texas Railway stations in Collin County, Texas Red Line (Dallas Area Rapid Transit) Orange Line (Dallas Area Rapid Transit) {{Texas-railstation-stub