DETROIT – Crews tested parts of the track for the QLine Tuesday morning, closing portions of Woodward Avenue and completing the first of thousands of planned safety tests.
A small motorized inspection car called a “speeder” ran down areas of track, checking all the angles and dimensions before putting the passenger cars on the track.
“It’s a bit of an oxymoron because it’s not going to go that fast,” M-1 Rail chief operating officer Paul Childs said. “This is a pretty big step for us. To actually put something on the track and make sure that where we put the station and where we put the track is going to work out for us – that’s pretty important thing.”
The real passenger cars are expected to cost a half million dollars each.
Construction has been all anyone in Detroit has seen of the M-1 Rail but as testing begins Detroiters are getting eager to ride the long-waited public transportation.
“I’m excited,” Detroiter Jerrid Mooney said. “You can’t help but be excited as a life-long Detroiter. It makes it less of a dream and more of a reality.”
The last time Detroit had streetcars was in 1956.
“It’s back to the future,” Mooney said. “I’ve seen a little on Woodward here and they were busting up the concrete to lay the new rail and they were digging up old rail.”
About 83 percent of the track is built. Some 40 percent of the stations and substations are ready and 60 percent of the overhead wiring is done.
The “speeders” have a lot more testing to do in the coming weeks, eventually traversing the entire 6.6 mile track.
Track testing is expected to be finished this year and travel on the QLine should begin early next year.