Temporary rail line to Arlington to be installed for Super Bowl

According to Jeff Mosier of the Dallas Morning News, commuter rail service will be installed temporarily along an existing Union Pacific line to connect Jonestown with the rest of the world in time for next year's Super Bowl in Arlington. A temporary Super Bowl station will be located just north of the Arlington City Hall near Center Street, about a mile from the stadium. I am assuming shuttle bus service will connect the station and the stadium. The rail line will bring passengers from both Dallas and Fort Worth.

I'm betting very few will use it, simply because it is "temporary." Michael Morris, a host committee member and transportation director for the North Central Texas Council of Governments, told Mosier that Miami officials hoped some 3,000 riders would use its already existing rail service to attend last weekend's Pro Bowl. The actual number was closer to 300. And, as Bill Lively, president and CEO of the North Texas Super Bowl Host Committee, told Mosier of the Arlington line: "It won't be live the day before or the day after. No one here is going to be familiar with it. No one from out of town is going to be familiar with it."

So it seems like a lot of trouble to go to for the amount of use I'm betting it will get. And, why in heavens name, is the area trying to provide rail service to Arlington whose voters have repeatedly rejected mass transportation plans. They wanted gaudy sports stadiums instead. Let them deal with the transportation issues on their own. It's a simple case of "Be careful what you wish for." Besides, as Mosier points out in his story "Rail stops already exist near major Super Bowl venues, including the NFL Experience at the Dallas Convention Center and Taste of the NFL at the Fort Worth Convention Center."