A weight on DCTA officials’ shoulders has been lifted as board members approved terms of the corridor agreement with DART.

The agreement will allow the Denton County Transportation Authority’s A-train passenger rail to operate in the rail corridor owned by Dallas Area Rapid Transit.

Under the terms of the agreement, DCTA will have full rights to operate and be responsible for any maintenance and any agreements between the railroad and any adjacent cities for a 20-year period, with one 20-year renewal option, while DART maintains ownership of the corridor.

DART owns the right to reactive rail service on the former Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad line.

The Denton City Council previously approved the transfer of Denton’s piece of the rail corridor north of Swisher Road to DART, which helped move along the agreement between DART and DCTA.

DART’s board of directors must still approve the agreement, but DART spokesman Morgan Lyons said he did not see the possibility of any holdups.

Dee Leggett, DCTA’s vice president of communications and planning, said DCTA and DART officials have been working on the rights agreement since the alignment for the A-train was chosen in 2006. Officials have been pushing for the agreement with a renewed fervor the past 18 months after receiving funding last year for the rail.

“DART and DCTA always knew the agreement would happen; it was just finalizing the terms,” Leggett said.

The A-train, a 21-mile commuter rail line from Carrollton to Denton, remains on schedule with this agreement, she said.

“It just ensures we will transition from construction to full operation without any delays and gives us further confirmation the A-train will come online soon,” she said.

Tom LeBeau, vice president of rail development and capital projects, said the agreement has been a long time coming and complimented DART on being a good regional partner and sister agency as officials worked through the process. He noted that DART gave DCTA a right of entry to work in areas of the corridor while the process played out.

“It’s a very, very significant milestone, not only in the history of DCTA but the completion of the A-train project,” he said. “It finalizes our partnership with DART and completion of this project for North Texas and the citizens of Denton County.”

The next step is for officials to come to terms on a joint operations and maintenance agreement to use the existing operator, Trinity Railway Express, to operate the A-train, which will save citizens of Denton County and the agency operating dollars.

BJ LEWIS can be reached at 940-566-6875. His e-mail address is blewis@dentonrc.com.