After 60 Years, Detroit Has A Streetcar Again (PICS, VIDEO)

If you doubted that the QLINE/M1-Rail was going to happen, it doesn’t get more real than the first streetcar being delivered.

Daily Detroit was on hand in New Center as the first of six streetcars arrived near the Penske Tech Center. These are the first full-service streetcars since 1956 (that’s 60 years) to hit the streets of Detroit. There was a limited trolley from Washington Boulevard to the Rencen for awhile.

Over the course of a few hours, the streetcar will be unloaded and placed on the tracks.

If you missed the details yesterday, here’s a post talking about their impending arrival, and below are some of the specs, per M1 Rail’s Dan Lijana:

The three-piece QLINE streetcars are each 66 feet long and will carry an average of 125 passengers per car. The QLINE will share the road, traveling with traffic on Woodward Ave. at speeds up to 35 mph. The QLINE streetcars will feature wi-fi access for passengers, vertical bicycle racks and and HVAC unit to keep passengers comfortable during all weather seasons. The QLINE will allow for station-level access for pedestrians as well as persons who use mobility assistance devices such as wheelchairs.

Travel time from end to end of the line is estimated to be 25 minutes. That’s about the same amount of time that it takes to bike that distance. Walking the line would take about an hour and ten minutes, according to Google Maps.

Officials say that receiving the streetcar early will allow for additional driver training and time for drivers to get used to the streetcar to being on the tracks in part of traffic flow.

Here are some photos and video from tonight.