DFW and Love Field to Dallas and Fort Worth: What Each Option Costs
A taxi from DFW to downtown Dallas is a flat 55 dollars. The train is 3. Two rail stations at different terminals go to different cities. Verified 2026 fares and pickup points.
Sammie O
A taxi from DFW to downtown Dallas is a flat 55 dollars. The train is 3 dollars and takes about 50 minutes. There is no flat taxi rate to Fort Worth, and there is no single train that serves both cities. This page sets out what every option costs, checked against DFW Airport, Dallas Love Field, DART, Trinity Metro and the Dallas City Code in September 2026.
What each option costs
| Route | Rail | Taxi | Rail time |
|---|---|---|---|
| DFW to downtown Dallas | 3 dollars, DART Orange Line | 55 dollars flat | 50 to 56 minutes |
| DFW to downtown Fort Worth | 2 dollars, TEXRail | Metered, no flat rate | 49 to 53 minutes |
| Love Field to downtown Dallas | Free shuttle plus 3 dollar rail | 26 dollars flat | 8 minute shuttle plus rail |
DFW sits between the two city centres, roughly 16 to 20 miles from each, on 17,207 acres. It is the second largest airport in the country by area and there is no single arrivals hall. Love Field is about 6 miles from downtown Dallas and is a completely different proposition.
Two rail stations, at different terminals, going different places
This is the thing that catches people at DFW.
- Terminal A has the DART Orange Line, near Gate A10 on the lower level. It goes to downtown Dallas.
- Terminal B has TEXRail, near Gate B43. It goes to Fort Worth. Terminal B also has the DART Silver Line, which opened in October 2025 and runs north east to Plano. The Silver Line does not go to downtown Dallas.
The Orange Line does not go to Fort Worth and TEXRail does not go to Dallas. If you land at the wrong terminal for your train, you take the free landside Terminal Link bus.
DART fares, and the pages that still show the old ones
| Pass | Adult | Effective |
|---|---|---|
| Local 3 hour pass | 3.00 dollars | 1 March 2025 |
| Local day pass | 6.00 dollars | Unchanged |
| Regional day pass | 9.00 dollars | 1 March 2026, was 12.00 |
The 3 hour pass replaced the old single ride and time of day passes and includes unlimited transfers on bus and rail inside the window.
DFW on the Orange Line takes the local fare. There is no airport premium.
Be careful which page you read. DART’s own DFW question and answer page still quotes 2.50 dollars for a two hour pass and 5 for a day pass. Those are pre March 2025 figures. Love Field’s page and one of Trinity Metro’s own pages carry similarly stale numbers.
The Orange Line to Dallas
The station is at Terminal A, reached from the lower level. It is the western end of the line and it serves Terminal A only.
The run to the downtown stations takes about 50 to 56 minutes. Trains come every 15 minutes at peak, 20 midday and 30 late at night, daily. Downtown stops are West End, Akard, St. Paul and Pearl and Arts District.
Las Colinas and Irving are on the way, at the Irving Convention Center and Las Colinas Urban Center stations, on the same local fare. Belt Line is 8 minutes out. DART does not publish minute by minute times for the Las Colinas stations.
DART’s page gives a first train of 3:50am and a last departure from downtown of 1:12am on weekdays. That is the same page carrying the obsolete fares, so check dart.org before an early or late flight.
TEXRail to Fort Worth
TEXRail is run by Trinity Metro, not DART. A DART pass is not valid on it.
A single ride is 2 dollars and a one day pass is 4, which covers all Trinity Metro rail, bus and on demand service in Tarrant County. There is no premium airport fare.
From Terminal B it is 49 minutes to Fort Worth Central Station and 53 to the T&P Station. Trains run every 30 minutes at peak and hourly off peak, on the same schedule 365 days a year.
We could not confirm the first and last train. Trinity Metro publishes its timetable only as images.
The Trinity Railway Express, and why the name misleads
The TRE connects Fort Worth and Dallas Union Station and stops at CentrePort DFW Airport Station. That station is not at the airport. Getting to the terminals needs the TRE LINK shuttle bus from Bus Bay A.
The two operators disagree about where that bus drops you. TRE and DFW both say the lower level of Terminal B. DART says Terminal D, upper level, outside Gate D22. TRE and DFW are more likely current, but check on the day.
The fare zone boundary is CentrePort. Any trip crossing it needs a regional ticket at 9 dollars rather than a local one.
For DFW to Fort Worth the TRE has mostly been superseded. TEXRail is a one seat ride from Terminal B for 2 dollars. The TRE means a shuttle bus plus a train, and triggers the regional fare if the trip also crosses into Dallas County. Its real value is city to city between Dallas and Fort Worth, and as a fallback if TEXRail is disrupted.
Taxis
Taxi fares at both airports are set by Dallas city ordinance, not by the airports. The airports publish nothing.
| Charge | Amount |
|---|---|
| Flag drop | 3.00 dollars |
| Per quarter mile | 70 cents, which is 2.80 a mile |
| Waiting time | 40 cents a minute |
| Extra passenger | 2.00 dollars each |
Flat rates, from the same ordinance.
| Route | Flat fare |
|---|---|
| DFW to Dallas Central Business District | 55.00 dollars |
| DFW to Dallas Market Center | 47.00 dollars |
| Love Field to Dallas Central Business District | 26.00 dollars |
| Love Field to Dallas Market Center | 20.00 dollars |
These rose in June 2023, DFW to the CBD from 45 to 55 and Love Field from 21 to 26. A driver quoting the meter on a DFW to downtown Dallas trip is overcharging you.
There is no flat rate to Fort Worth. That trip runs on the meter and we are not going to quote a total, because arithmetic on a mileage figure is not a published fare.
At DFW taxis wait on the lower level of all five terminals, with a Guest Assistant managing the queue from 8am to midnight. At Love Field they moved on 3 January 2025 to Garage C, Level One, next to the valet pavilion.
Uber and Lyft
At DFW, look for the blue Ride App signs at the kerb after baggage claim. Zones are terminal specific. Terminal A between doors A15 to A19, A24 to A29 or near A35. Terminal B near door B9 or B25. Terminal C between gates C10 to C12, C20 to C24 or C30 to C37. Terminal D on the arrivals outer curb or the departures level.
At Love Field, rideshare has moved twice since 2023. Since 3 January 2025 it picks up at the reconfigured Valet Pavilion near Garage C, about a six minute walk from the terminal, not at the arrivals curb. Old guides and old app pins send people to the wrong place.
The airport pickup fee is the figure we could not pin down. One compiler says 5 dollars at DFW and 2.50 at Love Field, another says 4 dollars at DFW. Neither airport publishes one, so we are giving the range rather than a number.
Skylink is no use to you
DFW’s Skylink is free, runs 24 hours, comes every two minutes and takes 5 to 9 minutes between terminals. It is also entirely post security.
That means an arriving passenger who has left the secure area cannot use it, and neither can somebody arriving by train who has not yet checked in. The landside equivalent is Terminal Link, a free 24 hour bus between terminals outside security. DFW publishes no frequency or journey time for it.
Love Field has no train
No DART rail station serves the Love Field terminal. The connector is the Love Link, DART Route 5, running curb to curb between the terminal and Inwood Love Field Station on the Green and Orange lines, in 8 minutes.
It is not route 524. That was the number before DART’s network redesign, and both DART and the airport now call it Route 5, sometimes written as 55.
Pick it up on the lower level Ground Transportation drive outside baggage claim, at either far end, at the DART bus stop sign. It runs every 15 minutes at peak and midday, 30 off peak, roughly 5:30am to 1am.
The Love Link is free leaving the airport. It is not free coming back. The return leg costs a DART local fare, currently 3 dollars, though the airport’s own page still says 2.50.
Rental cars
DFW’s rental companies are all at the Consolidated Rental Car Center at 2424 East 38th Street, near the airport’s south entrance. There are no counters at the terminals. Board the shuttle on the lower level after baggage claim. DFW says it runs 24 hours, every 10 to 15 minutes, with a ride of about 10 minutes.
Two brands, ACE and Routes, are off airport and run their own shuttles, which is worth knowing because their airport quotes hide an extra transfer.
DFW publishes no facility charge or concession fee amounts, so we will not print one. Expect both plus Texas taxes on top of the daily rate.
What we could not confirm
Official mileage from DFW to either city centre, and rush hour drive times. No official source publishes either.
TEXRail first and last trains.
The TRE LINK shuttle’s frequency, hours, journey time and which terminal it currently uses.
The DART Silver Line fare class, local or regional.
Terminal Link frequency and journey time.
The rideshare airport pickup fee at either airport, and rental car facility charges.
Orange Line timings to the two Las Colinas stations, and the Love Link’s exact first and last bus.
Sources
- DART, fares and passes
- DART, travelling to and from DFW
- DART, travelling to and from Love Field
- Trinity Metro, about TEXRail
- Trinity Railway Express, fares and passes
- Dallas City Code, taxi rates and fares
- DFW Airport, ground transportation
- DFW Airport, Skylink and connecting
Sammie O publishes Germ Trips, a travel guide covering hotels, restaurants, airport transfers and chauffeur services. The guides aim for practical detail and a clear recommendation rather than an undifferentiated list. Where a town has no good option, the guides say so and point to the nearest one that does. Guides are AI drafted. A small number have been checked against official listings, and those say so on the page.
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