The Texas Northeastern Railroad (which is legally separate but shares operations with DGNO) connects the northern and eastern segments, while a CPKC corridor (which DGNO holds trackage rights to) connects the eastern and western segments. The line interfaces with all three Class I railroads in the area, namely BNSF, CPKC, and Union Pacific.[1]
History
In 1992, short-line operator Rail-Tex announced the creation of DGNO, a 62-mile (100 km) railroad connecting Garland, Greenville, and Trenton. The railroad would be based in Garland and would operate out of a depot built by the Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad (MKT). The proposed right-of-way was owned by Union Pacific; UP sold the Greenville/Trenton segment to Rail-Tex and leased the rest.[2][3]
In 1999, DGNO leased an additional 89 miles (143 km) of track from Union Pacific and Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART). This included a stretch of Union Pacific track between Plano and Sherman, as well as a DART-owned St. Louis Southwestern corridor between Carrollton and Plano. (The latter corridor would later become the basis for DART's Silver Line.) Also included in the deal were trackage rights to a Burlington Northern & Santa Fe corridor between Sherman and Irving.[4]
In 2010, the railroad's Garland depot was relocated to a new site, located 1⁄2 mile (0.80 km) east of the MKT depot. This was done to accommodate the construction of a rail bridge over First Street and Lavon Drive (which was part of DART light rail's extension from Garland to Downtown Rowlett).[5] The MKT depot was demolished in 2013.[6]
.jpg)
