Celebrity is the fame and public attention accorded by the mass media to individuals or groups or, occasionally, animals, but is usually applied to the persons or groups of people (celebrity couples, families, etc.) themselves who receive such a status of fame and attention. Celebrity status is often associated with wealth (commonly referred to as fame and fortune), while fame often provides opportunities to earn revenue.
Successful careers in sports and entertainment are commonly associated with celebrity status,[1][2] while political leaders often become celebrities. People may also become celebrities due to media attention on their lifestyle, wealth, or controversial actions, or for their connection to a famous person.
History
Athletes in Ancient Greece were welcomed home as heroes, had songs and poems written in their honor, and received free food and gifts from those seeking celebrity endorsement.[3] Ancient Rome similarly lauded actors and notorious gladiators, and Julius Caesar appeared on a coin in his own lifetime (a departure from the usual depiction of battles and divine lineage).[4]
In the early 12th century, Thomas Becket became famous following his murder. He was promoted by the Christian Church as a martyr and images of him and scenes from his life became widespread in just a few years. In a pattern often repeated, what started out as an explosion of popularity (often referred to with the suffix 'mania') turned into a long-lasting fame: pilgrimages to Canterbury Cathedral where he was killed became instantly fashionable and the fascination with his life and death have inspired plays and films.
The cult of personality (particularly in the west) can be traced back to the Romantics in the 18th century,[5] whose livelihood as artists and poets depended on the currency of their reputation. The establishment of cultural hot-spots became an important factor in the process of generating fame: for example, London and Paris in the 18th and 19th centuries. Newspapers started including gossip columns [6] and certain clubs and events became places to be seen in order to receive publicity.
The movie industry spread around the globe in the first half of the 20th century and with it the now familiar concept of the instantly recognizable faces of its superstars. Yet, celebrity was not always tied to actors in films, especially when cinema was starting out as a medium. As Paul McDonald states in The Star System: Hollywood's Production of Popular Identities, "in the first decade of the twentieth century, American film production companies withheld the names of film performers, despite requests from audiences, fearing that public recognition would drive performers to demand higher salaries."[7]  Public fascination went well beyond the on-screen exploits of movie stars and their private lives became headline news: for example, in Hollywood the marriages of Elizabeth Taylor and in Bollywood the affairs of Raj Kapoor in the 1950s.
The second half of the century saw television and popular music bring new forms of celebrity, such as the rock star and the pop group, epitomised by Elvis Presley and the Beatles, respectively. John Lennon's highly controversial 1966 quote: "We're more popular than Jesus now,"[8] which he later insisted was not a boast, and that he was not in any way comparing himself with Christ,[9] gives an insight into both the adulation and notoriety that fame can bring. Unlike movies, television created celebrities who were not primarily actors; for example, presenters, talk show hosts, and news readers. However, most of these are only famous within the regions reached by their particular broadcaster, and only a few such as Oprah Winfrey, Jerry Springer, or David Frost could be said to have broken through into a wider stardom.
In the '60s and early '70s the book publishing industry began to persuade major celebrities to put their names on autobiographies and other titles in a genre called celebrity publishing. In most cases the book was not written by the celebrity but by a ghost-writer, but the celebrity would then be available for a book tour and appearances on talk shows.[10]
Regional and cultural implications

Cultures and regions with a significant population may have their own independent celebrity systems, with distinct hierarchies. For example, the Canadian province of Quebec, which is French-speaking, has its own system of French-speaking television, movie and music celebrities. A person who garners a degree of fame in one culture may be considered less famous or obscure in another. Some nationwide celebrities might command some attention outside their own nation; for example, the singer Lara Fabian is widely known in the French-speaking world, but only had a couple of Billboard hits in the U.S., whereas the francophone Canadian singer Celine Dion is well known in both the French-speaking world and in the United States.
Regions within a country, or cultural communities (linguistic, ethnic, or religious) can also have their own celebrity systems, especially in linguistically or culturally distinct regions such as Quebec or Wales. Regional radio personalities, newscasters, politicians or community leaders may be local or regional celebrities.
In politics, certain politicians are recognizable to many people, usually the head of state and the Prime Minister. Yet only heads of state who play a major role in international politics have a good chance of becoming famous outside their country's borders, since they are constantly featured in mass media. The President of the United States, for instance, is famous by name and face to millions of people around the world. Since World War II the U.S. Presidential elections are followed closely all across the globe, making the elected candidate instantly world-famous as a result. In contrast, both the Pope and The Dalai Lama are far more famous under their official title than under their actual names. Usually when politicians leave active politics their recognizability tends to diminish among general audiences, as other politicians replace them in their official political functions. Certain politicians, however, are still famous today, even decades or centuries after they were in power. They owe their fame to historical deeds which are kept in memory in history classes, for instance people like Julius Caesar, Genghis Khan, Napoleon Bonaparte, Abraham Lincoln and Mao Zedong. Scandal can also unwillingly make certain politicians famous, even among those who are not particularly interested in politics.
English-speaking media commentators and journalists will sometimes refer to celebrities as belonging to the A-List or state that a certain actor belongs to the B-List, the latter being a disparaging context. These informal rankings indicate a placing within a hierarchy. However, due to differing levels of celebrity in different regions, it is difficult to place people within one bracket. A Brazilian actor might be a B-list action film actor in the U.S., but an A-list star in Portugal.
Some elements are associated with fame, such as appearing on the cover of Time, being spoofed in Mad, having a wax statue in Madame Tussauds, or receiving a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Certain people are known even to people unfamiliar with the area in which they excelled. If one has to name a famous boxer, they are more likely to name Muhammad Ali or Mike Tyson, since their fame expanded beyond the sport itself. Pablo Picasso's style and name are known even to people who are not interested in art; likewise many know that Harry Houdini was an illusionist, Tiger Woods a golfer, Richard Branson, Bill Gates, and Donald Trump are entrepreneurs, Albert Einstein a scientist; Mozart and Beethoven classical composers; Luciano Pavarotti an opera singer, Bruce Lee a martial artist, William Shakespeare a playwright, Walt Disney an animator and Yuri Gagarin and Neil Armstrong astronauts.
Criminals can also become world-famous if the media cover their crimes, arrest, trial and possible punishment extensively and/or if the crime itself is sensational enough. Assassins of high-profile celebrities can become famous, like Brutus who is remembered for murdering Julius Caesar. People who commit extremely gruesome crimes can also achieve infamy, such as Nazi doctor Josef Mengele. Certain criminals have achieved lasting fame thanks to romanticization in popular culture, such as Guy Fawkes, Blackbeard, Billy the Kid and Bonnie & Clyde. Others owe their fame to never being identified or caught, like Jack the Ripper, or by regularly  being interviewed in jail, like Charles Manson. However, certain criminals are covered far less extensively in media and, as such, do not become very famous at all. In other cases the huge media coverage disappears after the conclusion of their trial, causing them to fade in obscurity again. This has even happened to people who commit high-profile crimes, like François Ravaillac whose murder of Henry IV of France in 1610 is nowadays only remembered by people with historic knowledge. In some cases people who've been acquitted of certain crimes are still remembered as being guilty today, like Lizzie Borden, showing that the sensation occasionally overshadows the actual facts.
Fictional implications
The same phenomenon is true for fictional characters. Sherlock Holmes, Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster and James Bond continue to be portrayed in film, television and literature decades after the original stories were published. Superman, Spider-Man, The Hulk, Wonder Woman, and Batman represent super heroes to a far wider audience than that of the comics and graphic novels in which they appear. The same can be said about other comics characters which enjoy international distribution and syndication such as Popeye, Tintin, Snoopy, Astérix, Garfield and Astro Boy. Disney have theme parks around the world which rely on the fame of its creations headed by Mickey Mouse. Thanks to the global reach of film and television characters like King Kong, Godzilla, The Flintstones, The Muppets and The Simpsons are instantly recognizable to millions. Certain fictional characters known from TV series have become so famous that their names are more well known than those of the actors who perform them. A good example is Larry Hagman who played J.R. Ewing on the TV series Dallas. When his character was shot during a cliffhanger episode without the viewers knowing who was the killer, it caused a media hype around the question: Who Shot J.R.?. By the time the answer was given in the first episode of the next season millions of people instantly recognized Hagman's face as J.R. rather than that of himself. Some characters from video and computer games have developed a celebrity life beyond these media, such as Mario, Lara Croft and Pikachu. Certain advertising characters have also become iconic thanks to decades of constant merchandising, such as Ronald McDonald
, Bibendum and Hello Kitty.
Becoming a celebrity

People may become celebrities in a wide range of ways; from their professions, following appearances in the media, or by complete accident. The term "instant celebrity" describes someone who becomes a celebrity in a very short period of time. Someone who achieves a small amount of transient fame (through, say, hype or mass media) may become labeled a "B-grade celebrity". Often, the generalization extends to someone who falls short of mainstream or persistent fame but who seeks to extend or exploit it.
Success
There are, of course, no guarantees of success for an individual to become a celebrity. Though celebrities come from many different working fields, most celebrities are typically associated with the fields of sports and entertainment, or a person may be a public figure who is commonly recognizable in mass media with commercial and critical acclaim.
Though glamour and wealth may certainly play a role for only famous celebrities, most people in the sports and entertainments spheres, be it music, film, television, radio, modelling, comedy, literature etc. live in obscurity and only a small percentage achieve fame and fortune.[11][12][13][14]
Outside of the sports and entertainment sphere, the top inventors, professionals such as doctors, lawyers, and scientists, etc. are unlikely to become celebrities even if they are enormously successful in their field due to society's disinterest in science, invention, medicine, and courtroom law which is not fictional. American microbiologist Maurice Hilleman is credited with saving more lives than any other medical scientist of the 20th century.[15] After Hilleman's death Ralph Nader wrote, "Yet almost no one knew about him, saw him on television, or read about him in newspapers or magazines. His anonymity, in comparison with Madonna, Michael Jackson, Jose Canseco, or an assortment of grade B actors, tells something about our society's and media's concepts of celebrity; much less of the heroic."[16]
Difficulty

A number of athletes who are unable to turn professional take a second job or even sometimes abandon their athletic aspirations in order to make ends meet. A small percentage of entertainers and athletes are able to make a decent living but a vast majority will spend their careers toiling from hard work, determination, rejection, and frequent unemployment. For minor league to amateur athletes, earnings are usually on the lower end of the pay-scale. Many of them take second jobs on the side or even venture into other occupations within the field of sports such as coaching, general management, refereeing, or recruiting and scouting up-and-coming athletes.[17]
Becoming a celebrity in the U.S.
The Screen Actors Guild, a union representing actors and actresses throughout Hollywood reports that the average television and film actor earns less than US$50,000 annually; the median hourly wage for actors was $18.80 in May 2015.[18][19][20] Actors sometimes alternate between theater, television, and film or even branch into other occupations within the entertainment industry such as becoming a singer, comedian, producer, or a television host in order to be monetarily diversified, as doing one gig pays comparatively very little. For instance, David Letterman is well known for branching into late night television as a talk show host while honing his skills as a stand-up comedian, Barbra Streisand ventured into acting while operating as a singer, or Clint Eastwood, who achieved even greater fame in Hollywood for being a film director and a producer than for his acting credentials.
According to American entertainment magnate Master P, entertainers and professional athletes make up less than 1% of all millionaires in the entire world.[21] Less than 1% of all runway models are known to make more than US$1000 for every fashion showcase. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median wage for commercial and print models was only $11.22 per hour in 2006 and was also listed one of the top ten worst jobs in the United States.[22]
Wealth
Forbes Celebrity 100

Forbes Magazine releases an annual Forbes Celebrity 100 list of the highest paid celebrities in the world. The total earnings for all top celebrity 100 earners totaled $4.5 billion over the course of 2010 alone.
For instance, Forbes ranked media mogul and talk show host, Oprah Winfrey as the top earner "Forbes magazine’s annual ranking of the most powerful celebrities", with earnings of $290 million in the past year. Forbes cites that Lady Gaga reportedly earned over $90 million in 2010.[23] In 2010, golfer Tiger Woods was one of highest-earning celebrity athletes, with an income of $75 million and is consistently ranked one of the highest paid athletes in the world.[23] In 2013, Madonna was ranked as the fifth most powerful and the highest earning celebrity of the year with earnings of $125 million. She has consistently been among the most powerful and highest earning celebrities in the world, occupying the third place in Forbes Celebrity 100 2009 with $110 million of earnings, and getting the tenth place in the 2010 edition of the list with annual earnings equal to $58 million.[24]
Entrepreneurship and endorsements

Celebrity endorsements have proven very successful around the world where, due to increasing consumerism, an individual is considered to own a status symbol when they purchase a celebrity-endorsed product. Although it has become commonplace for celebrities to place their name with endorsements onto products just for quick money, some celebrities have gone beyond merely using their names and have put their entrepreneurial spirit to work by becoming entrepreneurs by attaching themselves in the business aspects of entertainment and building their own business brand beyond their traditional salaried activities. Along with investing their salaried wages into growing business endeavors, a number of celebrities have become innovative business leaders in their respective industries, gaining the admiration of their peers and contributing to the country's economy.
Numerous celebrities have ventured into becoming business moguls and established themselves as entrepreneurs, idolizing many well known American business leaders such as Bill Gates and Warren Buffett. For instance, basketball legend Michael Jordan became an active entrepreneur involved with many sports related ventures including investing a minority stake in the Charlotte Bobcats, Paul Newman started his own salad dressing business after leaving behind a distinguished acting career, and rap musician Birdman started his own record label, clothing line, and an oil business while maintaining a career as a rap artist. Brazilian football legend and World Cup winner Ronaldo became the majority owner of La Liga club Real Valladolid in 2018.[27] Other celebrities such as Tyler Perry, George Lucas, and Steven Spielberg have become successful entrepreneurs through starting their own film production companies and running their own movie studios beyond their traditional activities of screenwriting, directing, animating, producing, and acting.[28]
Various examples of celebrity turned entrepreneurs included in the table below are:

Tabloid magazines and talk TV shows bestow a great deal of attention on celebrities. To stay in the public eye and build wealth in addition to their salaried labor, numerous celebrities have participating and branching into various business ventures and endorsements. Many celebrities have participated in many different endorsement opportunities that include: animation, publishing, fashion designing, cosmetics, consumer electronics, household items and appliances, cigarettes, soft drinks and alcoholic beverages, hair care, hairdressing, jewelry design, fast food, credit cards, video games, writing, and toys.[53]
In addition to various endorsements, a number of celebrities have been involved with some business and investment related ventures also include:  and toddler related items, sports team ownership, fashion retailing, establishments such as restaurants, cafes, hotels, and casinos, movie theaters, advertising and event planning, management related ventures such as sports management, financial services, model management, and talent management, record labels, film production, television production, publishing such as book and music publishing, massage therapy, salons, health and fitness, and real estate.[53]
Although some celebrities have achieved additional financial success from various business ventures, the vast majority of celebrities are not successful businesspeople and still rely on salaried labored wages in order to earn a living. Most businesses and investments are well known to have a 90 to 95 percent failure rate within the first five years of operation. Not all celebrities eventually succeed with their own businesses and other related side ventures. Some celebrities either went broke or filed for bankruptcy as result of dabbling with such side businesses or endorsements. Though some might question such a validity since celebrities themselves are already well known, have mass appeal, and are well exposed to the general public. The average entrepreneur who is not well known and reputable to general public does not the same marketing flexibility and status-quo as most celebrities allow and have. Therefore, compared to the average person who starts a business, celebrities already have all the cards and odds stacked in their favor. This means they can have an unfair advantage to expose their business ventures and endorsements and can easily capture a more significant amount of market share than the average entrepreneur.[54]
As a mass media phenomenon

Celebrities often have fame comparable to royalty. As a result, there is a strong public curiosity about their private affairs. The release of Kim Kardashian's sex tape with rapper Ray J in 2003 brought her to a new level of fame, leading to magazine covers, book deals, and reality TV series.[55][56]
Celebrities may be resented for their accolades, and the public may have a love/hate relationship with celebrities. Due to the high visibility of celebrities' private lives, their successes and shortcomings are often made very public. Celebrities are alternately portrayed as glowing examples of perfection, when they garner awards, or as decadent or immoral if they become associated with a scandal. When seen in a positive light, celebrities are frequently portrayed as possessing skills and abilities beyond average people; for example, celebrity actors are routinely celebrated for acquiring new skills necessary for filming a role within a very brief time, and to a level that amazes the professionals who train them. Similarly, some celebrities with very little formal education can sometimes be portrayed as experts on complicated issues. Some celebrities have been very vocal with their political views. For example, Matt Damon expressed his displeasure with 2008 US vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, as well as with the 2011 United States debt-ceiling crisis.[57][58]
Famous for being famous

Famous for being famous, in popular culture terminology, refers to someone who attains celebrity status for no particular identifiable reason, or who achieves fame through association with a celebrity.[59]  The term is a pejorative, suggesting that the individual has no particular talents or abilities.[60] Even when their fame arises from a particular talent or action on their part, the term will sometimes still apply if their fame is perceived as disproportionate to what they earned through their own talent or work.
The coinages "famesque" and "celebutante" are of similar pejorative gist.
Internet celebrities
Also known as being internet famous, contemporary fame does not always involve a physical red carpet.
Online fame in Asia
A report by BBC highlighted a longtime trend of Asian internet celebrities such as Chinese celebrity Wang Hong (birth name Ling Ling).[61] According to BBC, there are two kinds of online celebrities in China—those who create original content, such as Papi Jiang, who is regularly censored by Chinese authorities for cussing in her videos, and those such as Wang Hong and Zhang Dayi, who fall under the second category, as they have clothing and cosmetics businesses on Taobao, China's equivalent of Amazon.[61]
Social networking and video hosting
Most high-profile celebrities participate in social networking and photo or video hosting platforms such as YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat.[62] Social networking sites allow celebrities to communicate directly with their fans, removing the middle-man known as traditional media. Social media humanizes celebrities in a way that arouses public fascination as evident by the success of magazines such as Us Weekly and People Weekly. Celebrity blogging have also spawned stars such as Perez Hilton who is well known for not only blogging, but also outing celebrities.[63]
Social media sites have also contributed to the fame of some celebrities, such as Tila Tequila who became known through MySpace.[64]
Families
Another example of celebrity is a family that has notable ancestors or is known for its wealth. In some cases, a well-known family is associated with a particular field. For example, the Kennedy family is associated with US politics; The House of Windsor with royalty; The Hilton and Rothschild families with business; the Jackson family with popular music; and the Osbourne, Chaplin, Kardashian, Baldwin, and Barrymore families with television and film.
Restricted access
Access to celebrities is strictly controlled by their entourage of staff which includes managers, publicists, agents, personal assistants, and bodyguards. Even journalists find it difficult to access celebrities for interviews. An interview with writer and actor Michael Musto cites:
You have to go through many hoops just to talk to a major celebrity. You have to get past three different sets of publicists: the publicist for the event, the publicist for the movie, and then the celebrity's personal publicist. They all have to approve you.—Michael Musto, [65]

Celebrities often hire one or more bodyguards (or close protection officer) to protect themselves and their families from threats ranging from the mundane (intrusive paparazzi photographers or autograph-seeking fans) to serious (assault, kidnapping, assassination, or stalking). The bodyguard travels with the celebrity during professional activities (movie shoots or concerts) and personal activities such as recreation and errands.
Celebrities also typically have security staff at their home, to protect them from similar threats.[66][67]
Cult of celebrity
15 minutes of fame

Andy Warhol famously coined the phrase "15 minutes of fame" in reference to a short-lived publicity. Certain "15 minutes of fame" celebrities can be average people seen with an A-list celebrity, who are sometimes noticed on entertainment news channels such as E! News. These persons are ordinary people becoming celebrities, often based on the ridiculous things they do.  "In fact, many reality show contestants fall into this category: the only thing that qualifies them to be on TV is that they're real."[68]
Certain people are only remembered today because of a movie portrayal, certain story or urban legend surrounding their life and less for their accomplishments. Antonio Salieri was a famous and well-known 18th-century composer, but his fictional portrayal as an antagonist (for example, in the musical and film Amadeus) has been more famous than his music since the end of the 20th century. Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle and O. J. Simpson are more notorious for their association with murder trials than for their respective movie and sports careers. Centuries after his death, Andrea Mantegna is now better known as the mentor of Leonardo da Vinci than for his own paintings.
Health implications
John Cleese said being famous offers some advantages such as financial wealth and easier access to things that are more difficult for non-famous people to access, such as the ability to more easily meet other famous or powerful people, but that being famous also often comes with the disadvantage of creating the conditions in which the celebrity finds themselves acting, at least temporarily (although sometimes over extended periods of time), in a superficial, inauthentic fashion.[69]
Common threats such as stalking have spawned celebrity worship syndrome where a person becomes overly involved with the details of a celebrity's personal life.[70]    Psychologists have indicated that though many people obsess over glamorous film, television, sport and music stars, the disparity in salaries in society seems to value professional athletes and entertainment industry based professionals.[71][72] One study found that singers, musicians, actors and athletes die younger on average than writers, composers, academics, politicians and businesspeople, with a greater incidence of cancer and especially lung cancer. However, it was remarked that the reasons for this remained unclear, with theories including innate tendencies towards risk-taking as well as the pressure or opportunities of particular types of fame.[73]
Furthermore, some have said fame might have negative psychological effects, and may lead to increasingly selfish tendencies and psychopathy.
Recently, there has been more attention toward the impact celebrities have on health decisions of the population at large.[74] It is believed that the public will follow celebrities' health advice to some extent.[75] This can have positive impacts when the celebrities give solid, evidence informed health advice, however it can also have detrimental affects if the health advice is not accurate enough.
See also

Acquired situational narcissism
All-star
Celebrity bond
Celebrity branding
Celebrity Worship Syndrome
Cult of personality
Diva
Fame in the 20th century
Farce
Glamour
Infamy
Infotainment
Invision Agency
List of celebrities
List of celebrity inventors
List of entertainment industry topics
Look-alike
Q Score
Radio personality
Scientific celebrity
Selling out
Superstar
Teen Idol

Bibliography
Goldman, Jonathan (2011) Modernism Is the Literature of Celebrity. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2011. ISBN978-0-292-72339-9
Grinin, Leonid (2009) "". In Hierarchy and Power in the History of Civilizations: Cultural Dimensions (pp.183–206). / Ed. by Leonid E. Grinin and Andrey V. Korotayev. Moscow: KRASAND/Editorial URSS, 2009

Schikel, Richard. Intimate Strangers: The Culture of Celebrity New York: Doubleday, 1985. ISBN0-385-12336-1

 Quotations related to Fame at Wikiquote
 Media related to Celebrities at Wikimedia Commons


DART Light Rail, the Dallas Area Rapid Transit Light Rail, is a light rail system in Dallas, Texas and its suburbs owned and operated by Dallas Area Rapid Transit. The system comprises 93 miles (150km)[3] among its four lines — the Red Line, the Blue Line, the Green Line, and the Orange Line. It is the longest light rail system in the United States.[4]  As of the fourth quarter of 2017, the system has an average weekday ridership of 98,700, making it the largest light rail system in the Southern United States by ridership, and the sixth largest in the United States by ridership.[1]  The system uses 163 light rail trains manufactured by Kinki Sharyo,[3] with all trains being converted to "Super" LRVs which feature level boarding and higher passenger capacity.[5]
As of August2018, following lines are currently active:
Red Line (opened in 1996, completed in its current state in 2002)
Blue Line (opened in 1996, completed in its current state in 2016)
Green Line (opened in 2009, completed in its current state in 2010)
Orange Line (opened in 2012, completed in its current state in 2014)
History
Planning

DART's initial plans called for 160 miles (257.5km) of commuter rail. The election plan was pared down to 147 miles (236.6km) when Duncanville, Grand Prairie and Mesquite, which would have had rail lines, opted out of joining the agency. DART chose light rail transit as its primary mode of rail transportation. The plan was pared down again to 93 miles (149.7km) after a bond vote. After that vote, the agency again pared down the regional rail system to 84 miles (135.2km).

Starter system
After years of scandals involving finances, delays in construction of the rail system, a failed bond election, and nine pull-out votes (two of which were successful), October 1990 was a turning point for the agency when DART first broke ground on its light rail system. In June 1996, the light rail system began service on time and on budget[6] inaugurating the first light rail system in Texas and the Southwest. Commuter rail service to Irving began in December, after some delays.
To the surprise of critics, the new light rail system was embraced by Dallasites, with ridership exceeding expectations.  The suburbs' confidence in DART was also expressed at the ballot box: four cities held highly publicized pullout elections in 1996 (with the financial assistance of Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones who wanted DART's half-cent sales tax revenue for Texas Stadium in Irving, the Cowboys' home at the time[7]), but all four voted to remain in DART (three of them by margins of more than two-to-one).
The 20 miles (32km) starter system opened on June 14, 1996,[2] comprising the Red Line from the Westmoreland Road in West Oak Cliff through downtown Dallas to Pearl Street, and the Blue Line from Pearl Street to Morrell Station and Illinois Avenue.
The next stage of the starter line opened on January 10, 1997 when the Red Line was extended from Pearl Station to Park Lane Station. It includes the underground tunnel from Pearl Street to Mockingbird Lane, the latter being the site of Dallas's first modern transit village. The northern terminus of the Blue Line remained Pearl Station at that time.[8]
The starter line was completed when the Blue Line was extended from Illinois Station to Ledbetter Drive. This came on May 31, 1997, nearly one year after the first part of the starter system opened.
The final change to the starter system came on December 18, 2000 when DART opened Cityplace Station (now called Cityplace/Uptown Station), the first subway station in the Southwest, in the tunnel between Pearl and Mockingbird Lane under the Tower at Cityplace skyscraper, providing access to the Tower as well as Cityplace West. It was the system's first in-fill stop.
Commuter rail on the old Rock Island right-of-way began during the series of openings of the light rail starter system. On December 30, 1996 the Trinity Railway Express opened the first segment as the South Irving Transit Center was connected to Union Station in downtown Dallas with a stop in the middle at Medical/Market Center Station. The agency had to lease rail cars due to a delay in the current stock until that March.

Suburban expansion

[ vt ]DART Light RailSystem diagram

Parker Road  Downtown PlanoCityLine/BushGalatyn ParkArapaho Center North Carrollton/FrankfordSpring Valley Trinity MillsLBJ/CentralDowntown CarrolltonForest LaneFarmers BranchWalnut HillRoyal LanePark LaneWalnut Hill/DentonLovers LaneDART NorthMaintenance FacilityDowntown Rowlett    DFW AirportDowntown GarlandBelt LineForest/JupiterNorth Lake CollegeLBJ/SkillmanIrving Convention CenterLake Highlands Las Colinas Urban CenterWhite RockUniversity of DallasBachmanSMU/MockingbirdBurbankCityplace/Uptown  Inwood/Love FieldM-Line TrolleySouthwestern MedicalDistrict/ParklandPearl/Arts DistrictMarket CenterSt. Paul Trinity Railway Expressto T&P StationAkard VictoryWest Endfuture extension Union StationDeep EllumDallas StreetcarBaylor UniversityMedical CenterConvention CenterFair ParkCedarsMLK Jr.DART SouthMaintenance FacilityHatcher8th & CorinthLawnviewDallas ZooLake JuneTyler/VernonBuckner Hampton WestmorelandMorrellIllinoisKiestVA Medical CenterLedbetterCamp Wisdom UNT Dallas

Note: streetcar lines are greatly simplified
Key to lines

Dallas StreetcarRed LineM-Line TrolleyBlue LineTrinity Railway ExpressGreen LineTEXRailOrange LineA-train
After the success of the light rail starter system, voters approved DART's request to use long-term bonds to expedite the construction of the regional light rail system.  While DART had originally planned single-track extensions of the Blue Line to Garland and the Red Line to Richardson and Plano, the starter system was so popular that the agency made plans to double-track the entire route.
Work began on the extensions of both the Blue Line and the Red Line on January 15, 1999. Later that same year, on September 27, the Blue Line designation was extended to Mockingbird Lane, for its eventual expansion to Garland.[8] The first station since 1997 to open came on September 24, 2001, when the Blue Line was extended from Mockingbird Station to the new White Rock. Later, the Blue Line was further extended east outside the LBJ Loop when the LBJ/Skillman Station opened on May 6, 2002.
The first extension of the Red Line opened on July 1, 2002 when the line was extended 7 stations north from a newly rebuilt Park Lane Station to Galatyn Parkway.  Richardson became the first Dallas suburb to be served by light rail.
The Blue Line was completed to Garland on November 18, 2002, making it the second suburb to get light rail service. The two new stations of Forest/Jupiter Station and Downtown Garland Station were opened to the public.[9]
The final stage of north-central and northeast "suburban" light rail expansion opened six months ahead of schedule when the Red Line extension to Downtown Plano and Parker Road opened on December 9, 2002, providing light rail service to Plano for the first time, and completing the current configuration of the Red Line.[10][11]
2030 Plan
In October 2006, the DART Board of Directors unanimously approved a long-term "2030 Plan", which included the following proposals for its next round of rail expansion:[12]
A 2.9-mile (4.7km) light rail extension of the Blue Line to Bonnie View Road and Interstate 20 to a new SouthPort intermodal port in southeast Dallas.
A 4.3-mile (6.9km) light rail extension of the Red Line south to Red Bird Lane.
A 4.3-mile (6.9km) light rail extension of the Orange Line along Scyene Road to approximately Masters Drive. The line would branch off the Green Line east of Lawnview Avenue.
A 6-mile (10km) light rail line in West Dallas along Fort Worth Avenue or Singleton to Loop 12/Jefferson Boulevard.  No color designation was given for this planned line.
A station for the Lake Highlands neighborhood of northeast Dallas on the Blue Line, between White Rock Station and LBJ/Skillman Station. This area previously opposed rail service, so the tracks were built through the area without a station. Lake Highlands opened on December 6, 2010, becoming the first component of the 2030 plan to be completed and the first infill station in DART's system.[13] This is a key component of the new Lake Highlands Town Center TOD development.[14]
A nearly 26-mile (42km) Cotton Belt Rail Line commuter service in the east-west Cotton Belt corridor from the Red Line in Plano to DFW International Airport. This line would provide rail service to the bus transfer station in Addison and would intersect the Green Line at Downtown Carrollton Station.
The final 2030 plan included several changes from the draft plan released in July 2006. Removed from the final plan was a 6.3-mile (10.1km) branch of the Red Line from Forest Lane Station to the Addison Transit Center, which would have included several miles of subway under Interstate 635. DART officials cited the line's high cost, US$700 million, and lack of strong support from the city of Dallas. The Blue Line extension to the Dallas Southport Center (intermodal terminal) was added after strong pressure from Dallas officials. Also, the proposed light rail line serving West Dallas was not originally considered as a priority for rail service.
The Cotton Belt corridor plans continued to generate controversy right up to the day of the vote on the 2030 plan.  DART leaned toward diesel powered commuter rail for the Cotton Belt corridor, similar to the Trinity Railway Express. However, the line would pass through affluent Far North Dallas neighborhoods, which formed the Cotton Belt Concerned Coalition to fight the line in 1990. The group lobbied for electric light rail vehicles on the line to avoid perceived air and noise pollution associated with diesel rail, and also proposed that the line be placed in a below-ground trench. These proposals were accepted by the City of Dallas in June 2006 in a unanimous resolution. DART, however, balked at the cost of trenching the line, which they estimated at $250 million. This set up a confrontation between DART and the city of Dallas, which appoints eight of the board's 15 members. The final plan compromised by promising $50 million "to help address neighborhood concerns".[15]
The current Cotton Belt freight corridor runs just south of the Downtown Plano Station on the Red Line, but DART maps of the 2030 plan indicated that the commuter rail line would run to the nearby Bush Turnpike station, the nearest station to the south of downtown Plano.[16] The Cotton Belt line would run through former DART member city Coppell between Carrollton and DFW Airport; although no station locations are included in the plan, the promise of a future station could entice Coppell, which withdrew from DART in 1989, into rejoining the agency.
In 2010, citing deficits and drops in revenue, DART scrapped much of their 2030 plan.[17]
Green and Orange Line expansion
On July 3, 2006, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) approved a US$700 million Full Funding Grant Agreement (FFGA) — the largest grant ever awarded to DART — to kick-start a US$2.5 billion expansion of the light rail system.  This phase included two new light rail lines that doubled DART's light rail mileage.[18]  Construction began in September 2006.  Upon completion of the project in 2013, the size of DART's light rail system doubled to 90 miles (145km).[19]
In maps before 2006, DART labeled the Pleasant Grove to Carrollton route the "Orange Line", and the Irving route was the "Purple Line".  Green was generally used on DART maps to denote the route of the Trinity Railway Express.  By the time construction started, DART was using the new Green Line designation as part of its marketing efforts, saying "Like the color green, this line is a symbol of our city on the move."[20]
The Green Line began operation on September 14, 2009 with a route from downtown Dallas southeast to Fair Park; this short route was scheduled to open in time to service the 2009 State Fair of Texas. On December 6, 2010 the line extended further at both ends -  to Pleasant Grove, as well as continuing northwest from Victory Station to Farmers Branch and Carrollton; both extensions, completing the Green Line.[21]
The Green Line's northern end connects with the A-train line run by the Denton County Transportation Authority (DCTA).[22] This line connects Denton to Carrollton, with stops in Lewisville and Highland Village. The commuter train may stop in other Denton County cities, should they choose to join the DCTA.
The second line, the Orange Line originates at LBJ/Central on the Red Line and runs concurrently with the Red Line to downtown, then with the Green Line to northwest of Love Field Airport at Bachman Lake, where it branches off toward Irving, then continuing to DFW International Airport. DART is cooperating with Love Field to link that airport to the Orange Line, but service is currently connected by a bus shuttle. The line runs through Las Colinas and connects to the Las Colinas APT System. DART had preliminary plans for the Orange Line to run concurrently with the Red Line from downtown Dallas to LBJ/Central Station.[23] The line ends at LBJ/Central Station with rush hour service to Parker Road Station. The first Orange Line stations opened on July 30, 2012, while service to Belt Line Station in Irving began on December 3, 2012.[24]  An extension of the Orange Line from Belt Line Station to DFW Airport Station opened on August 18, 2014.[25]
Downtown Dallas (D2) Transit Study

[ vt ]D2 Subway

Deep Ellum to beremovedPearl/Arts DistrictCBD East proposedSt. PaulCommerce proposedAkardMetro Center proposedWest EndMuseum Way proposedVictory
In 2007, DART recognized that with Blue and Red Line trains sharing tracks through the Dallas Central Business District corridor, and the Orange and Green Lines also using this trunk segment through downtown, a single alignment would not have the capacity to support all four rail lines. Under a 1990 agreement with the City of Dallas, DART agreed to build a second rail alignment through downtown once certain operating or ridership figures were met, and DART projected that it would hit these targets by the early 2010s. As a result, DART commissioned its Downtown Dallas Transit Study, known as the D2 Study, to study the possibility of building a second rail alignment through downtown.[26]
In spring 2008, DART announced it had considered 16 possible plans for a second rail alignment, and selected four for more detailed consideration. All four proposals provided for an alignment between Victory Station and Deep Ellum Station, indicating the D2 alignment would be used for Green and Orange Line service while the Red and Blue Lines would continue to use the existing alignment.[27]  However, on April 27, 2010, DART announced financial problems would prevent it from funding construction of the D2 alignment, putting the plan in limbo.[17]
After a three-year hiatus, DART announced on February 6, 2013 that it would begin holding public hearings on "Phase II" of the D2 study, to discuss alternatives and refinements to its D2 options since it ended "Phase I" of the D2 study in 2010.[28]  At a public hearing on February 13, 2013, DART announced it was expanding to consider eight possible D2 alignments, some of which would connect to Union Station instead of Victory Station and thus provide Red and Blue Line service.[29]  While the D2 Study is being funded by a $700,000 grant, the $500 million to $1 billion alignment is unfunded, and construction is not expected to begin before 2025.[29]
In August 2015, the Dallas City Council voted to only recommend an alignment above-ground along Jackson Street, over the objections of DART officials, who requested the addition of a Young Street route as a fallback. The alignment along Young Street was opposed by the First Presbyterian Church of Dallas, as the light rail would run through its property.[30] However, the church and local residents, along with structural issues (the local library would have to be demolished, and many historic buildings would be close to or within the path of the line), helped to form an opposition to the new Jackson locally preferred alternative (LPA). Due to this, the City of Dallas voted against the Jackson alignment and instead for the alignment to be in a subway for the majority of its time in downtown.[31] This led DART to have to reconsider the alignment, and also balance funding for the Cotton Belt, which created tension between supporters of both rail lines, who believed that only one of the two could be built.[32] However, DART eventually voted in favor of eventually funding the Cotton Belt and D2.[33]
DART is considering three alignments, all of which are underground for a majority of their routes. A decision will be made by 2018 as to which route will be pitched to the FTA, although city leaders have endorsed the Commerce subway route (along with a downtown streetcar design) to moved forward into consideration.[34]
Current lines

Red Line

The Red Line runs from southwest to northeast, from Westmoreland Station, in southwest Dallas, to Parker Road Station in Plano.  Heading north from Westmoreland, the line provides service to Dallas Convention Center, Union Station, and the Dallas Central Business District, then follows Central Expressway (US 75) through north Dallas, Richardson and Plano.
Blue Line

The Blue Line runs from southwest to northeast, UNT Dallas, in southwest Dallas, to Downtown Rowlett Station in Rowlett.  Heading north from UNT Dallas, the line provides service to Dallas Convention Center, Union Station, and the Dallas Central Business District, then turns northeast, providing service to White Rock Lake, Garland, and Rowlett.

Green Line

The Green Line runs from Buckner Station, near Loop 12 in southeast Dallas, to North Carrollton/Frankford Station in Carrollton in the northwest.  Heading north from Buckner, the line serves Fair Park, Deep Ellum, and the Dallas Central Business District, then turns northwest along the Interstate 35E (Texas) corridor, serving the American Airlines Center, Parkland Hospital, Love Field, Farmers Branch, and Carrollton, where a transfer is available to the A-train line run by the Denton County Transportation Authority (DCTA).
Orange Line

The Orange Line runs between Parker Road Station in Plano and Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.  The Orange Line duplicates the Red Line along the Central Expressway (US 75) corridor from Parker Road to the Dallas Central Business District, then follows the Green Line along the Interstate 35E (Texas) corridor, serving the American Airlines Center, Parkland Hospital, and Love Field, before branching west along the Highway 114 corridor to Irving.  The final leg of the Orange Line from Belt Line to DFW Airport opened on August 18, 2014.
Operation
The DART light rail system operates seven days a week from 4:30 a.m. to 12:30 a.m.[35]  On each individual line, service operates Monday through Friday every 15 minutes during commute periods and every 20 minutes middays and early evening, while operating every 30 minutes after approximately 10 p.m.  On Saturday and Sunday, service operates every 20 minutes between 9 a.m. and 8 p.m., and every 30 minutes early morning and at night.  Portions of the system have headways cut in half where at least two lines share rail tracks, with all four lines which converge in downtown Dallas along the Pacific Avenue/Bryan Street corridor commanding headways of 3.5 minutes at the most to 5–7 minutes at the least.
See also

List of DART Light Rail stations
Dallas Streetcar
McKinney Avenue Transit Authority
Light rail in the United States
List of United States light rail systems by ridership
List of tram and light rail transit systems

Route map: Attached KML Error: KML file not foundTemplate:Attached KML/Main PageKML is not from Wikidata

What is Texas' public rail system called?


A loader is a heavy equipment machine used in construction to move aside or load materials such as asphalt, demolition debris, dirt, snow, feed, gravel, logs, raw minerals, recycled material, rock, sand, woodchips, etc. into or onto another type of machinery (such as a dump truck, conveyor belt, feed-hopper, or railroad car). There are many types of loader, which, depending on design and application, are called by various names, including bucket loader, front loader, front-end loader, payloader, scoop, shovel, skip loader, wheel loader, or skid-steer.
Description

A loader is a type of tractor, usually wheeled, sometimes on tracks, that has a front-mounted square wide bucket connected to the end of two booms (arms) to scoop up loose material from the ground, such as dirt, sand or gravel, and move it from one place to another without pushing the material across the ground. A loader is commonly used to move a stockpiled material from ground level and deposit it into an awaiting dump truck or into an open trench excavation.
The loader assembly may be a removable attachment or permanently mounted. Often the bucket can be replaced with other devices or tools—for example, many can mount forks to lift heavy pallets or shipping containers, and a hydraulically opening "clamshell" bucket allows a loader to act as a light dozer or scraper. The bucket can also be augmented with devices like a bale grappler for handling large bales of hay or straw.
Large loaders, such as the Kawasaki 95ZV-2, John Deere 844K, Caterpillar 950H, Volvo L120E, Case 921E, or Hitachi ZW310 usually have only a front bucket and are called front loaders, whereas small loader tractors are often also equipped with a small backhoe and are called backhoe loaders or loader backhoes or JCBs, after the company that first claimed to have invented them. Other companies like CASE in America and Whitlock in the UK had been manufacturing excavator loaders well before JCB.
The largest loader in the world is LeTourneau L-2350. Currently these large loaders are in production in the Longview, Texas facility. The L-2350 uses a diesel electric propulsion system similar to that used in a locomotive. Each rubber tired wheel is driven by its own independent electric motor.
Loaders are used mainly for loading materials into trucks, laying pipe, clearing rubble, and digging. A loader is not the most efficient machine for digging as it cannot dig very deep below the level of its wheels, like a backhoe or an excavator can. The capacity of a loader bucket can be anywhere from 0.5 to 36 m3[1] depending upon the size of the machine and its application. The front loader's bucket capacity is generally much bigger than a bucket capacity of a backhoe loader.

Unlike most bulldozers, most loaders are wheeled and not tracked, although track loaders are common. They are successful where sharp edged materials in construction debris would damage rubber wheels, or where the ground is soft and muddy. Wheels provide better mobility and speed and do not damage paved roads as much as tracks, but provide less traction.
In construction areas loaders are also used to transport building materials - such as bricks, pipe, metal bars, and digging tools - over short distances.
Front loaders are commonly used to remove snow especially from sidewalks, parking lots, and other areas too small for using snowplows and other heavy equipment. They are sometimes used as snowplows with a snowplow attachment but commonly have a bucket or snowbasket, which can also be used to load snow into the rear compartment of a snowplow or dump truck.
High-tip buckets are suitable for light materials such as chip, peat and light gravel and when the bucket is emptied from a height.

Unlike backhoes or standard tractors fitted with a front bucket, many large loaders do not use automotive steering mechanisms. Instead, they steer by a hydraulically actuated pivot point set exactly between the front and rear axles. This is referred to as "articulated steering" and allows the front axle to be solid, allowing it to carry greater weight. Articulated steering provides better maneuverability for a given wheelbase. Since the front wheels and attachment rotate on the same axis, the operator is able to "steer" his load in an arc after positioning the machine, which can be useful. The tradeoff is that when the machine is "twisted" to one side and a heavy load is lifted high, it has a greater risk of turning over to the "wide" side.
Front loaders gained popularity during the last two decades, especially in urban engineering projects and small earthmoving works. Heavy equipment manufacturers offer a wide range of loader sizes and duties.
The term "loader" is also used in the debris removal field to describe the boom on a grapple truck.
Major components
The major components included in a loader are the engine (diesel in almost all cases), the hydraulic components (such as pumps, motors and valves) and the transmission components (gearbox, axles, wheels/tracks, pumps, motors, etc.). The engine runs both the hydraulics and the transmission, and these in turn move the front attachment (a bucket, forks, sweeper, etc.) to manipulate the material which we are handling (sand, gravel, cereal, manure or anything else) and the wheels or tracks to move the machine around the jobsite.
Armored wheel loaders

The Israeli Combat Engineering Corps uses armored Caterpillar 966 wheel loaders for construction and combat engineering missions in militarily occupied territories such as the West Bank. They are often seen building or removing road blocks and building bases and fortifications. Since 2005, they have also been used to demolish small houses. The Israel Defense Forces added armor plating to the loader to protect it against rocks, stones, molotov cocktails, and light gunfire.
Rio de Janeiro's police elite squad Batalhão de Operações Policiais Especiais (BOPE) has acquired one wheel loader designed for military use to open routes and make way for the police in Rio de Janeiro's slums, which are controlled, and blocked, by drugdealers.[2]
Several if not most countries have similar equipment. The Dutch armed forces for instance use models like the Werklust WG18Edef, which weighs 15 tons, 2 more than the corresponding unarmored civilian model. In addition, the Dutch military previously used extra armor modules covering most of the window surface with steel for extra protection. These were however not popular with the crews due to low visibility.
The Turkish Army and Turkish Police use remote controlled armored wheel loader Tosun during the building of the Syria–Turkey barrier, the Operation Euphrates Shield, Operation Idlib Shield) and Operation Olive Branch.[3]
Tractor front loaders
These loaders are a popular addition to tractors from 50 to 200hp. Its current 'drive-in' form was originally designed and developed in 1958 by a Swedish company named Ålö when they launched their Quicke loader.[4] Tractor loaders were developed to perform a multitude of farming tasks, and are popular due to their relatively low cost (compared to Telehandler) and high versatility. Tractor loaders can be fitted with many attachments such as hydraulic grabs and spikes to assist with bale and silage handling, forks for pallet work, and buckets for more general farm activities.
Compact front end loaders
Abram Dietrich Thiessen of Eyebrow Saskatchewan in the 1940s built the first quick attach front end loader. International Harvester's took a picture of the loader and replicated it at the Regina Agribition in November of the same year.

Front-end loaders (FELs) are popular additions to compact utility tractors and farm tractors. Compact utility tractors, also called CUTs, are small tractors, typically with 18 to 50 horsepower (37kW) and used primarily for grounds maintenance and landscape chores. There are 2 primary designs of compact tractor FELs, the traditional dogleg designed style and the curved arm style.
John Deere manufactures a semi-curved loader design that does not feature the one piece curved arm, but also is not of the traditional two piece design.  New Holland introduced a compact loader with a one piece curved arm on its compact utility tractors, similar one piece curved arm loaders are now available on compact tractors on many brands including Case IH/Farmall, and some Montana and Kioti tractors.  Kubota markets traditional loader designs on most of its compact tractors but now features a semi-curved loader design similar to the John Deere loader design on several of its small tractors.
While the front-end loaders on CUT size tractors are capable of many tasks, given their relatively small size and low capacities when compared to commercial loaders, the compact loaders can be made more useful with some simple options. A toothbar is commonly added to the front edge of a loader bucket to aid with digging. Some loaders are equipped with a quick coupler, otherwise known as a quick attach (QA) system. The QA system allows the bucket to be removed easily and other tools to be added in its place. Common additions include a set of pallet forks for lifting pallets of goods or a bale spear for lifting hay bales.
LHD (Load, Haul, Dump machine) is also a front end loader but meant to be used for mine compact conditions,  can handle various range of loads with varying size of buckets, and can be driven with electric motors as well as diesel engines.
Skid loaders and track loaders

A skid loader is a small loader utilizing four wheels with hydraulic drive that directs power to either, or both, sides of the vehicle. Very similar in appearance and design is the track loader, which utilizes a continuous track on either side of the vehicle instead of the wheels. Since the expiration of Bobcat's patent on its quick-connect system, newer tractor models are standardizing that popular format for front end attachments.
Swingloaders
A swingloader is a rigid frame loader with a swinging boom.  The boom can swing 180 degrees or more.  Swingloaders are primarily used by the railroad industry to lay rail.  Like other loaders many attachments can be attached to the boom such as magnets, forks, and buckets.  Smaller swingloaders are used in farming applications for loading out. A swinging boom is advantageous where space is limited.  The loader is able to lift on all sides and dump off on all sides.
Gallery

XCMG ZL50GN 2018
A Hanomag loader
DK45 with and without a toothbar on the bucket
UNIMOG with front loader and excavator attachment (backhoe loader)
A relatively small front loader
 A loader with a specialized claw used to move logs at a sawmill
 A Caterpillar 930G fitted with a loader rake on a residential construction site in South Florida.
 The front of a Caterpillar 930G fitted with loader rake.
 Wacker Neuson wheel loaders at a trade fair
Compact utility tractor with a front loader showing two different measurement points for loader capacities
Swingmaster Swingloader
A Liugong ZL50A in Guilin East Railway Station, Guilin, Guangxi, China

See also
Backhoe loader
Bulldozer
Compactor
Crane
Excavator
Grader
Rocker shovel loader
Skid loader
Tractor
Telescopic handler
Notable manufacturers

Bobcat
Case
Caterpillar
Doosan Infracore (formerly Daewoo Heavy Industries & Machinery)—including Solar brand
Hitachi
Hyundai
JCB
John Deere
Kawasaki
Komatsu
Kramer
Kubota
Larsen & Toubro
Liebherr
LiuGong
Manitou
Navistar International
New Holland
Volvo Construction Equipment
Wacker Neuson
XCMG
Yanmar