Officials of the Fort Worth Transportation Authority (The T) signed a contract with Stadler Bussnang AG (Stadler) for the manufacture and delivery of eight Diesel Multiple Unit (DMU) rail vehicles for the TEX Rail commuter system at a ceremony at The T’s Intermodal Transportation Center (ITC) on Tuesday

  The ITC is one of the 10 stations where the DMU vehicles will operate when TEX Rail service begins in 2018 from downtown Fort Worth, northeast across Tarrant County to Grapevine and into Terminal B at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.

Stadler President, Chairman of the Board and Group CEO Peter Spuhler joined The T Board Chair Scott Mahaffey and The T President/CEO Paul Ballard at the signing ceremony, along with other T board members and Stadler representatives on hand.

The T began the procurement process for DMU vehicles in 2014 due to the three-year lead time for developing specifications, production, delivery and operation training for staff.

At its April 2015 meeting, The T board approved an agreement with Stadler for a contract, contingent upon TEX Rail’s authorization to enter into the Engineering phase that immediately precedes the start of construction. The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) gave that approval on June 2, which now allows The T to finalize a rail manufacturing contract.

The TEX Rail commuter rail will run on a 27-mile corridor with ten stations from downtown Fort Worth, northeast across Tarrant County to Grapevine and into Terminal B at DFW Airport. It will have a projected average daily ridership of more than10,000 in its initial year of service.