A short history of Streetcars and electrically-powered transit in Dallas

(In this article, the neighborhood through which the M-Line runs is referred to as "Uptown" although that name was not applied to this area until recently.)

The story of Dallas' streetcar (trolley) and transit system is a complex one. It all began in 1872 with a mule-car line in downtown Dallas. Many other streetcar systems were subsequently planned or built including a steam-powered line from downtown Dallas to Oak Cliff. A cable car line was proposed, but never built.

On August 15, 1884, the Dallas Belt Street Railway opened a 3.5 mile mule-powered railway from downtown to Uptown, running on McKinney between Harwood and Lamar. Apparently a ride on the line was considered a real treat. On hot summer nights families often took rides on the Belt Line before going to bed.

The North Dallas Circuit Railway began as a steam line in 1888, and was converted to electric operation within a year. By 1891, the company had constructed a line on Cole Avenue from its tracks on Bowen to Fairland. This line was later extended Highland Park. The company was absorbed into the Dallas Consolidated Electric Street Railway in 1901.

By 1902 electric trolleys had replaced all of the remaining mule cars in the city.

The Metropolitan Street Railway Company was incorporated on November 8, 1902. Part of its route in Uptown ran on State and Fairmount Streets. It was named the North Belt Line. In later years Dallas Railway and Terminal Company ran a trolley line down State Street.

From 1872 to 1917 some 20 trolley companies built or proposed various lines. The surviving companies merged with one another until finally all were absorbed into the Dallas Railway Company. Under this new management the streetcar lines flourished.

In 1926, seven 18-passenger Dodge buses were purchased for use as shuttle buses. These operated on feeder lines to extend transit service beyond the end of three trolley lines. However, they were of little threat to the 303 trolley cars operating over the numerous lines crisscrossing most of the city.

Dallas was also the hub of a network of inter-city interurban lines. At its peak in the 1920s, such lines fanned out to Fort Worth, Denton, Dennison, Waco, Corsicana and Terrell. Because the Dallas Railway Company owned the downtown Interurban Terminal, it changed its name in 1926 to the Dallas Railway and Terminal Company (DR&T).

The short-lived interurban line to Denton ran northward from McKinney Avenue on Fairmount Street. Subsequently it became a local streetcar line and was converted to buses before the 1940s. The largest and most prosperous interurban line – the Texas Electric, running between Dennison and Waco, lasted until December 31, 1948.

Bus technology gradually improved and prior to 1941, DR&T had already converted some of its trolley lines to motor bus. Even so, the company was still operating 251 trolleys on 21 lines at that time.

World War II, with its restrictions on rubber and gasoline, put a temporary end to any further trolley to bus conversions. The still-sizeable Dallas streetcar network provided reliable, dependable service during the war years.

In 1941, DR&T had ordered 18 new state-of-the art, streamlined, quiet, high performing "PCC" streetcars, but wartime priorities delayed their delivery until 1945. When put into service with great ceremony they were enthusiastically received by the public. In the same year, the company converted two lines from motor bus to electric trolley bus. Also in 1945, the first post-war streetcar abandonment occurred. In 1947 two streetcar lines were converted to trolley coach.

DR&T originally planned to order more PCC streetcars, but decided instead that trolley coaches were the wave of the future. A slow, systematic program in the name of "progress" began, replacing streetcars with motor buses or trolley buses. Interestingly enough, some lines were converted from streetcar to gasoline bus and finally to trolley bus.

In 1955 the locally owned DR&T was sold to an outside bus-minded source and was renamed The Dallas Transit Company. This event and the new wave of "progress" sweeping the city sounded the death knell of Dallas streetcars. The two lines that ran on McKinney Avenue were replaced by buses in in the same year.

The final four streetcar lines were abandoned on January 15, 1956. Almost all of the older trolleys were scrapped, but the 25 PCCs were sold to Boston where they ran for 30 years or more. The last electric transit presence in what is now Cityplace West was the eastern end of the Crosstown trolley bus line that looped around Haskell, Cole and Blackburn.

The DTC did convert one motor bus line to trolley coach in 1957 and continued to operate its trackless trolleys and gasoline buses until purchased by the City in 1964. This time the system was renamed The Dallas Transit System.

The DTS began an aggressive program of purchasing new General Motors diesel buses and in 1966 the trolley buses themselves suffered the same fate as the streetcars and were replaced by the new diesels.

In August 1983, voters in 15 cities in and around Dallas voted to levy a 1% sales tax to create the Dallas Area Rapid Transit Authority (DART) with the goal to bring rail transit back to the area. Unfortunately, political and financial squabbling delayed the start-up of the rail system

Meanwhile, in 1989, the non-profit McKinney Avenue Transit Authority (MATA), using four restored vintage trolleys, returned streetcar service to the neighborhood later to be known as Uptown Dallas. After some growing pains the line became a success and now operates 365 days a year. It has been a catalyst for bringing an economic revitalization boom to Uptown.

Finally in 1996 DART opened a light rail starter system with two lines from downtown to Oak Cliff. Patronage exceeded expectations and expansion continued. The agency now operates almost 57 miles of electric light rail lines and more is under construction.

In 2002, MATA extended its line northward to Cityplace West, became a DART transit partner and was designated the M-Line. MATA is about to build another extension down Olive Street to the downtown DART transit mall. We hope to join this extension to St. Paul so there will be loops at both ends of our line.

In downtown, the City of Dallas is aggressively planning a streetcar circulation system and DART is planing a second downtown route.

Rail transit, once branded as old-fashioned is now the wave of the future in cities all across the country and in many cases (as in the Metroplex) has spurred economic growth along its lines. Heritage trolleys and the reincarnation of the venerable trolley car as Light Rail Transit are popping up from coast to coast. Electric rail transit is back and is better than ever.