The Denton County Transportation Authority (DCTA) in Lewisville, TX, held an open house in January for local and regional officials to mark the opening of its 47,000-square-foot rail operations and maintenance facility and to introduce its new generation Stadler GTW 2-6 Diesel Multiple Unit rail vehicles.

The $17 million facility, located on an 80-acre site, is the last remaining component of DCTA’s A-train project. It houses more than 30 employees including DCTA rail operations staff and the maintenance and operations staff of the agency’s operations contractor, Herzog Transit Services Inc. It also houses a regional center to serve as dispatch for the A-train and backup dispatch for Trinity Railway Express commuter rail, which operates between Dallas and Fort Worth.

DCTA has officially accepted four of the 11 rail vehicles it ordered and anticipates that the remainder will arrive by this summer. Each of the vehicles, manufactured by Stadler Bussnang AG, a Swiss company, can seat 104 passengers and has a total capacity of 200. Though up to three vehicles may be run as a unit, DCTA plans to run two coupled vehicles on 20-minute headways during peak service.

The agency has spent the last two years working with Stadler and the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to modify the vehicle to comply with American safety standards and to eventually operate concurrently with FRA-compliant equipment through an Alternate Vehicle Technology crashworthiness waiver. Modifications include changes to the fuel tank design, emergency exits, and passenger and operator seats. Other advanced safety features include braking and crash energy management systems.