From there it was a matter of finding a station that had free parking spots. We began our trip at the 8th & Corinth Station, just south of downtown Dallas. There was a modest crowd of people at the station; it was just after 1pm. The seating is somewhat sparse, but luckily a gentleman was nice enough to give up his seat some the two of us could sit together.
There’s much to like about the train. One thing is the train schedule is pretty fast, thus there are no long waiting period for trains. Also the trains move pretty quickly through the city. Finally the ride is smooth, stress free, and sort of scenic. Since most of the areas along the route were already built, the system had to blend in with the area. At times we were street car level, above the streets (about 3 stories high) and even underground. There was a station underground, and there was one that was sub-ground. The sub-ground station was Mockingbird Station; it also had the biggest crowd of passengers waiting to use the trains. We took the train all the way to Plano, stopping mid-way back at another station for lunch before ending our trip.
Like Austin’s rail system, Dallas uses what I like to call the honor system for its fares. Rather than having turnstiles, or dedicated train attendees they have DART Patrol Officers. The Patrol Officers hop from one train to another checking for fare tickets, if you do know have a valid ticket they will give you a ticket. We witnessed tickets being handed out on our ride back to the station where my car was parked.
The overall experience was good; there was a lot of scenery on this route. They are building new lines that will cover most of the Metroplex, except for majority of south of Dallas. Which I believe needs a line as well, because south of Dallas has a huge residential suburban area. I would ride the DART if I lived and worked near it.
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