QLine

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QLine
image
Test train at Campus Martius Station in May 2017
Basic information
Country United States
city Detroit , Michigan
opening May 12, 2017
operator Transdev ; Owner: M-1 Rail
Infrastructure
Gauge 1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Power system 750 V
Operating mode Bidirectional operation
Depots 1
business
Lines 1
Line length 5.3 km
vehicles 6 Brookville Liberty Modern street cars
Top speed 48 km / h
statistics
Reference year 2016
Passengers 3,000

The QLine (also QLINE ), originally also named M-1 Rail or Woodward Avenue Streetcar by the developers of the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) , is a streetcar in Detroit in the US state of Michigan . It opened on May 12, 2017 and runs along M-1 (Woodward Avenue).

history

Woodward Avenue with tram tracks, 1942.

The first streetcar in Detroit opened in 1863 with horse-drawn carts, which were electrified in 1886. This tram was operated by the private company Detroit United Railway . It had changing owners and was taken over by the Department of Street Railways in 1922 . Detroit's Mayor Hazen S. Pingree had been campaigning for the city to take over operations for years. Expecting their company to be nationalized, the private operators scaled back investments in their network. That meant Detroit got a bottomless pit when it took over the streetcar. This and the fact that the tram department started using buses from 1925 onwards led to tram operations being discontinued in 1956.

Plans to reintroduce fast public transit began in 2006 when the Detroit Department of Transportation (DDOT) was conducting a study for a mass transit system along Woodward Avenue .

At the same time, a group of bus operators decided to give the government a $ 125 million fund to build a three-mile tram line in Detroit, similar to the Tacoma tram called the M-1 Rail line. After lengthy negotiations between the private investors and DDOT, both groups decided to work on DDOT's fifteen-kilometer tram line.

The proposed line ran ten miles along Woodward Avenue from the Rosa Parks Transit Center to the old State Fairgrounds. The line would have had nineteen stops; ten trams would have been used in tandem with a capacity of 150 people. For the longest part of the route, the line would have had its own track bed.

The calculated cost was $ 500 million. The Kresge Foundation awarded the city million dollars for the project in March 2009. Also herhielt $ 25 million from the United States Department of Transportation in February 2010. The Detroit City Council approved the issuance of $ 125 million bonds on April 11, 2011. On August 31, 2011 gave the United States Department of Transportation approval for the project.

In December 2011, the federal government withdrew the approval for the proposed line in order to introduce a fast bus system in its place, which should serve the inner city and the suburbs. This arose from discussions between Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood , Detroit Mayor Dave Bing and Guvneur Rick Snyder . The private investors, who were originally for the shorter 4.8 km long M-1 Rail Line to the New Center, announced that they wanted to continue their project as a non-profit M-1 Rail Consortium. The stopped 15km line would have meant seven additional stops north of Grand Boulevard, where the QLine ends today.

The QLine opened on May 12, 2017. In the first few weeks, the tram could be used for free, which means that up to 5120 people daily and 50,000 people weekly use the line. The number of users fell to 3000 people per day when the use was no longer free of charge.

construction

A draft of the Grand Circus Park stop

On April 22, 2013, the project received final approval from the federal government; the start of construction was expected in autumn 2013. Preparations for construction began on December 20, 2013 by M-1 Rail along Woodward Avenue. The company Stacy & Witbeck was commissioned with the construction on July 31, 2013. The official start of construction was on July 28, 2014. At that time, commissioning was expected for the end of 2016. On September 9, 2014, the Department of Transportation announced that M-1 Rail would receive an additional $ 12.2 million in funding.

A good 60% of the route has no overhead contact line . Here the trams are powered by lithium-ion batteries .

The headquarters was located near Woodward Avenue, between Bethune Street, Custer Street, and Grand Boulevard, with a tram depot behind it. It was clad with red bricks to match the historical surroundings. It was completed in May 2016.

In August 2015, M-1 Rail announced that the opening of the tram would be delayed until 2017, mainly due to new safety standards and delays in the delivery of the trams. In March 2016 the official name QLine was announced.

vehicles

A QLine tram

In the tender, offers for low-floor vehicles with air conditioning and the possibility of transporting wheelchairs were expected. The trams should have cabs at both ends.

After a first contract failed, M-1 finally awarded the contract to the Pennsylvania- based Brookville Equipment Corporation for $ 32 million . The contract comprised six three-part vehicles that are 20.1 m long and run on 750 volts and have lithium-ion batteries.

The delivery of the vehicles began in September 2016. The last vehicle on the old Detroit tram was number 286, so the new vehicles were numbered 287-292.

surgery

business

The QLinie runs from Monday to Thursday from 6:00 a.m. to midnight, Friday from 6:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m. the next morning, Saturday from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m. the next morning and Sundays from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. 00.

The names of the stops

From Downtown Detroit to the New Center;

Congress Street, Campus Martius, Grand Circus Park, Montcalm Street, Sproat Street / Adelaide Street, Martin Luther King Boulevard / Mack Avenue, Canfield Street || Midtown, Medical Center, Warren Avenue, Ferry Street, Amsterdam Street, Baltimore Street, Grand Boulevard

Web links

Commons : QLine  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Robert Allen, Eric D. Lawrence: All Aboard! Detroit's QLine Is Open for Streetcar Riders. Detroit Free Press, May 12, 2017, accessed June 9, 2018 .
  2. ↑ FAQ - M1-rail. Retrieved June 9, 2018 .
  3. ↑ Chad Livengood: 40% of QLine riders paying as ridership falls. In: Crain's Detroit Business. September 22, 2017, accessed June 9, 2018 .
  4. ↑ Robert Allen, Eric D. Lawrence: All Aboard! Detroit's QLine Is Open for Streetcar Riders. Detroit Free Press, May 12, 2017, accessed June 9, 2018 .
  5. ↑ Kenneth Schramm: Detroit's Street Railways . Ed .: Arcadia Publishing. Charleston, SC, USA 2006, ISBN 0-7385-4027-7 , pp. 7-8, 11-13 .
  6. ^ Dan Austin: How Metro Detroit Transit went from Best to Worst. In: Detroit Free Press. Retrieved June 9, 2018 .
  7. ↑ Mark Kurlyandchik: After 50+ Years, Street Cars Could Come Back to Woodward. In: Hour Detroit. ISSN 1098-9684, May 2012, accessed June 9, 2018 .
  8. ↑ Woodward Light Rail Project Canceled, M-1 Streetcar Still in the Works. July 1, 2011, accessed June 9, 2018 .
  9. ↑ Kresge Foundation Awards Nearly $ 73 million in grants in the First Quarter of 2009. The Kresge Foundation, September 4, 2009, accessed June 9, 2018 .
  10. ↑ Detroit streetcar construction contract awarded. August 2, 2013, accessed June 9, 2018 .
  11. ^ Detroit light rail project gets grant. February 22, 2013, accessed June 9, 2018 .
  12. ↑ City Council Approves Detroit Light Rail Project. CBS Detroit, April 12, 2011, accessed June 9, 2018 .
  13. ↑ Michael Wayland: Detroit's Woodward Ave. Light Rail Project Moves Forward, but Still Has Long Road to Completion. September 6, 2011, accessed June 9, 2018 .
  14. ↑ Kamau C. Marable, Tim Roseboom, Mark Ryan: Woodward Light Rail Transit Project. In: NAMC Detroit Transportation Symposium. slideplayer.com, September 15, 2011, p. 4 , accessed June 9, 2018 (English).
  15. ↑ Opinions & Views: QLINE, I Love You But We Need To Talk. Detroit Dayli, June 18, 2017, accessed June 9, 2018 .
  16. ↑ Amid deluge of riders, QLINE announces free rides until July 1, 19 June 2017, accessed on June 9, 2018 .
  17. ^ Douglas John Bowen: Stacy and Witbeck win Detroit M1 contract. railway age, July 31, 2013, accessed June 9, 2018 .
  18. ↑ Officials participate in track signing ceremony celebrating Detroit streetcar project. September 15, 2014, accessed June 9, 2018 .
  19. ^ David Shepardson: M-1 Rail buying 6 off-wire streetcars for $ 32M. June 8, 2015, accessed June 9, 2018 .
  20. ↑ Detroit streetcar project M-1 delayed through 2017. Trains, August 6, 2015, accessed June 9, 2018 .
  21. ^ David Shepardson: M-1 Rail buying 6 off-wire streetcars for $ 32M. The Detroit News, June 8, 2015, accessed June 9, 2018 .
  22. ↑ BROOKVILLE COMPLETES DELIVERY OF OFF-WIRE CAPABLE LIBERTY STREETCAR VEHICLES TO DETROIT FOR QLINE AHEAD OF SCHEDULE. April 12, 2017, accessed June 9, 2018 .
  23. ^ Benjamin Raven: Take a peek inside Detroit's first QLine streetcar. M Live, September 16, 2016, accessed June 9, 2018 .
  24. ↑ FAQ. QLine Detroit, accessed June 9, 2018 .