Trinity Metro TEXRail has had many milestones to celebrate as ridership continues to rebound from pandemic slowdowns.
Over the busy Memorial Day weekend. the commuter rail agency celebrated two million rides on the 27-mile commuter rail line that runs between downtown Fort Worth and Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport’s Terminal B. Employees rode the trains and handed out commemorative T-shirts to riders.
“There’s nothing better than visiting with our customers and hearing their feedback,” said Jon-Erik “AJ” Arjanen, vice president of rail. “We strive to deliver a dynamic customer experience every time, and we consistently exceed our 98 percent on-time performance goal.”
Trinity Metro introduced the commuter rail service in 2019, the year before the COVID pandemic outbreak. All transportation agencies faced pandemic challenges but TEXRail has rebounded with a 30 percent increase in pre-pandemic customer trips, agency officials said.
Marking another milestone, Trinity Metro has now reached 89 percent ridership recovery for both buses and trains.
“Considering the ridership increases over all Trinity Metro services, as an agency, we are almost back to where we were before COVID hit,” Arjanen said.
A full recovery is expected by the end of the year, he said.
Among the reasons for the ridership uptick is the convenience of travel from Fort Worth to DFW Airport.
TEXRail has made it easier for travelers to take the train to the airport by offering long-term paid parking at five of its stations. The cost is $5 per night and each of the stations has 20 long-term parking spots available.
Long-term parking spots are designated at the Fort Worth T&P, North Side, and Mercantile Center stations in Fort Worth and the Iron Horse and Smithfield stations in North Richland Hills.
Customers can make reservations and payments on the ACE Parking app for Apple or Google Play.
DFW Airport officials have projected an increase of at least 7 percent in the number of travelers compared to 2019. More than 22.3 million passengers are expected to pass through the airport this summer.
Parking lots and garages at the airport are expected to be extremely busy, particularly at Terminals C and D, officials said.