M-Line Trolley Celebrates 32 Years of Service

The McKinney Avenue Transit Authority (MATA) will celebrate 32 years of streetcar service to Dallas residents, visitors and businesses on July 22.

MATA was founded in 1983 and the McKinney Avenue Trolley grand opening of its 2.8-mile route was held on July 22, 1989.

The M-Line has now reached to a total of 4.6 miles in length. The first expansion was in 2002, which extended the route north to connect to DART’s Cityplace/Uptown Station. The second expansion was in 2015. This created the southern loop in downtown Dallas to connect riders to the DART’s St. Paul Station.

The M-Line trolley is served by seven vintage cars and provides more than 600,000 rides every year within Uptown and Downtown Dallas.

MATA aims to return heritage streetcars to the urban fabric of Dallas. Dallas residents Phil Cobb and Ed Landrum discovered tracks on McKinney Avenue that were paved over, and they have aimed to accomplish this goal ever since.