| Railroad Name: | Dallas, Garland & Northeastern Railroad |
| Parent Company: | Genesee & Wyoming |
| Marks: | DGNO |
| Locale: | North Texas |
| Founded: | 1992 |
| Predecessor Line: | Union Pacific (Garland/Trenton segment) |
| Length: | 161miles |
| Hq City: | Garland, Texas |
The Dallas, Garland & Northeastern Railroad is a short-line railroad headquartered in Garland, Texas. The railroad operates over 161miles of track in the North Texas region.[1] It is a subsidiary of short-line operator Genesee & Wyoming.
DGNO consists of three major segments. Significant portions of these routes utilize track leased from Union Pacific or Dallas Area Rapid Transit.
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.
In 1992, short-line operator Rail-Tex announced the creation of DGNO, a 62miles 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 89miles 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 NaNmiles 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]