On Tuesday evening, on the way home from work, I was riding the QLine when it stopped just north of Campus Martius. It was after 6:30 p..m. and about 7 degrees outside.
There were more than a dozen people aboard. We waited about 10 minutes on the idle train before the driver, who was very polite and apologetic, said that it would be 30 to 40 minutes before a tow truck arrived to remove a car from the tracks. He said while the train sat idle, the heat wouldn't be on and suggested everyone get off.
And off we all went into the frigid cold, looking for alternative ways to get to our destinations. I posted something about this on Facebook and readers chimed in. One reader wrote: "Detroit. The proper thing to do would be to give them all complimentary bus fare & put them on DDOT #4 Woodward."
Below the Facebook posting are the rest of the responses.
Donna Dee: Welcome to Detroit.
Tony Klukowsk:i With all the passengers in the train car it had to be warmer than being outside on the sidewalk. Great job on the Qline's lack of customer service.
Jeff Stoltman: Curbside design. Who could have possibly seen this coming??
Anthony Henry: Everyone knew cars on the track would be an issue, planners didn't care. This train or whatever is an absolute joke.
Sean Cronin: Put battering rams on the front of the trains.
Gary Wickmiller: Just put bumpers on the train, anyone parks too close, its crunch time.
Michele Solo Spencer: My car died in the right lane on the tracks just north of Campus Martius in Dec..... thx goodness the police were able to push me off onto a side street before the train came thru again. It probably happens so often.... glad they were there to help me.
Jared McKeown: When the city used private tow companys they had to be there in 20 minutes but now that they are city owned 45 is acceptable? That’s bullshit!
Eric Jackson: Passengers should have flipped the car over off the tracks. Lol
Frank Kove: The biggest waste of money and time! Forever fuck the Q Line!
Christopher Hardy: Thanks for the complaint again. Is this a media site, or let me complain about the Qline every 3 days. We all know it sucks, move on.
Robert Kwiecinski: Failure at its Best.
Alan Miller: What a janky setup.
Mark Marshalko: The fine for parking on the track should be forfeiture of your vehicle.
Matthew John Schmitt: That was the second time it happened yesterday! I was on it with my kids earlier at 2:30 and it happened right in front of Shinola.
Christopher Allen Doolittle: Just put a cow-catcher on the front. Problem solved.
Jeff Morgan: All that money and no heat!?! Haha! What a waste.
Jeremy Sanderlin: Detroit never seems to get it right with anything.
Ben Deneweth: The Smart FAST bus is much better than Qline. Need to get rid of at least half the stops.
Courey Brooks: This isn’t the first time this has happened...
Lawrence M. Ludlow: Not surprised.
Han Sudjunadi: Make the whole Woodward along the 3 mile stretch of qline bike/pedestrian only, and increase the qline frequency.
Steve Tyson: Travesty
Transit Guide: Detroit. The proper thing to do would be to give them all complimentary bus fare & put them on DDOT #4 Woodward.
Dicky Paridee: So Breakthrough will steal your car in about 3 minutes in midtown, but it takes 40 minutes to get a car off the tracks...that's some bullshit.
Jason Holloway: Everyone welcome to the People Mover 2.0 anyone other the the rich jerks who decided to run it along the sides of Woodward still think it's a good idea.
Kevin Hull: Who came up with this shit? Who allowed it to be built?
Franky Bennett III: Everywhere else in the world trains are either elevated or centerlined but hey you get to hang out in front of the Fox and watch everyone get in and out of their cars.
