Trinity Metro's board has signed off on three major contracts that shove a $43.5 million double-track upgrade for the Trinity Railway Express closer to shovels in the ground, with officials promising fewer delays and tighter schedules once the work wraps. The package covers heavy site work, track and signal construction, and construction oversight tied to roughly 2.4 miles of new second track in northeast Tarrant County, which agency leaders frame as a crucial piece of a broader push to expand double-tracking between Fort Worth and Dallas.
As reported by Fort Worth Report, the board on Monday approved a roughly $25.1 million contract to Reyes TX Inc. for site preparation and construction, an $11.8 million contract modification for Herzog Transit Services Inc. for track and signal work, and a $1.8 million award to GFT Infrastructure Inc. for construction oversight. According to the outlet, the Reyes agreement includes a roughly 10 percent contingency, about $2.2 million, and the GFT award carries a contingency of roughly $167,633. Trinity Metro says those awards, combined with earlier work on the program, make up the roughly $43.5 million total cost to add a second track and replace aging structures along the corridor.
What the contracts will build
The new work zeroes in on installing a continuous second track from Handley Ederville Road to Precinct Line Road, a stretch of roughly 2.4 miles, along with rebuilding or replacing bridges and other civil infrastructure as outlined in Trinity Metro's request-for-proposal materials posted on GovTribe. Procurement files lay out detailed specifications for subballast and trackbed preparation, concrete ties, retaining walls and bridge work that meet both passenger and freight operating standards. Those documents also anticipate an 18-month construction window from notice to proceed once the project officially gets underway.
Funding and regional context
This segment is part of the North Texas MOVES program, which landed a $25 million BUILD grant in 2020 to support rail capacity improvements between Fort Worth and Dallas. The U.S. Department of Transportation's BUILD fact sheets describe North Texas MOVES as backing multiple double-track segments and technology upgrades aimed at improving throughput and on-time performance on mixed freight and passenger corridors. Even with the federal money in hand, Trinity Metro and its regional partners still need additional funding and coordination to finish out the other double-tracking projects along the TRE.
What riders will notice
Agency staff says the new second track should cut down on the familiar delays that pop up when trains have to wait on single-track sections for opposing traffic to clear and should make schedules more consistent as ridership continues to grow. As the Fort Worth Report notes, TRE has already carried more than 548,000 riders so far this fiscal year, and Reed Lanham told the outlet the contracts will help provide more reliable service and that staff have "seen (TRE) growth off the charts." Riders are expected to see gradual improvements in on-time performance as the new track and signal work are completed and brought into regular service.
Timeline and next steps
Procurement materials released in late 2025 projected contract execution in early 2026 and an 18-month construction schedule, and the board's March 16 approvals effectively set that plan in motion. Before full construction can begin, Trinity Metro will still have to nail down property agreements, right-of-way access and work windows with freight rail owners and neighboring jurisdictions. The TRE is a joint service of Trinity Metro and Dallas Area Rapid Transit, and both agencies stand to share in the operational benefits, along with the ongoing coordination, as each upgraded segment comes online.
