Shearman & Sterling represented the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) in connection with the extension of a $908 million secured loan to Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) for the Silver Line Regional Rail Project. The loan, issued under the Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing (RRIF) program, is a refinancing of a 2018 RRIF loan on which Shearman & Sterling also advised USDOT. At a time when transit agencies nationwide are facing COVID-19 pandemic-related budget constraints, the refinancing will take advantage of low interest rates to help DART mitigate pandemic-related revenue loss by saving DART an estimated $190 million in interest costs. Proceeds will finance the construction costs of a 26-mile double-track commuter rail alignment extending from Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport eastward to Plano, Texas. DART expects to open the Silver Line to the public by March 2023.

The Team