Detroit's Commuter Rail & Downtown Circulator Network Evolution

From its beginning in 1974, Detroit's commuter rail & downtown circulator network has grown to 24 stations, spanning 6 miles (10 kilometers). This animated video takes you through the timeline of when new stations were opened, forming the DTC network that we know today.
🐦 Ask us questions on Twitter: / vanishingunder
☑️ Video Criteria:
- Population given is the sum of all counties and independent cities with stations in them.
- Future extensions are shown only if a construction tender has been awarded for their completion, at the time of video publication. If a construction tender has been issued for a project not included in the video, feel free to leave a comment, and we'll add it to our list to update.
- If you find an error, feel free to let us know in the comments. Please include links to any sources that will help us correct the error. Note: comments with links might take up to 24 hours to appear due to KZbin anti-spam policies.
📸 Image Credits:
- Michael Tighe - Imported from 500px (archived version) by the Archive Team. (detail page), CC0, commons.wikime...
- Detroit, MI - People Mover Grand Circus Park, CC BY 3.0, • Video
- David Wilson - Flickr: 20190813 Q Line Light Rail, Woodward Ave. & Kirby St., CC BY 2.0, www.flickr.com...
- Mx. Granger - Own work, CC0, commons.wikime...
- David Wilson - Flickr: 20190813 64 Q Line Light Rail, Woodward Ave. @ Amsterdam St., CC BY 2.0, www.flickr.com...
- Mx. Granger - Own work, CC0, commons.wikime...
- Dethistoricaler at English Wikipedia - Own work, CC0, commons.wikime...
- Mx. Granger - Own work, CC0, commons.wikime...
- jodelli - originally posted to Flickr as DPM, CC BY 2.0, commons.wikime...
- VasenkaPhotography - www.flickr.com..., CC BY 2.0, commons.wikime...
🖼 Thumbnail image: VasenkaPhotography - www.flickr.com..., CC BY 2.0, commons.wikime...
🚋 #DTC
Detroit SEMTA Silver Streak commuter rail
Detroit people mover
Detoit QLine streetcar

[@VidClips858]

I think I'd be pretty dejected if my transit service had a history of disappearing on me like Detroit's.

[@TG4164]

You should see VIA Rail

[@transitimprover]

Detroit has a troubled history of public transit. People in the city do ride transit, but Detroit DOT has had trouble keeping their busiest bus routes. I love how this channel covers the demise of passenger rail systems across the country and then the rebirth in the 70s.

[@skunkfac3]

A little known fact is that Detroit used to have the most extensive streetcar network in the country.

[@transitimprover]

@@skunkfac3 You sure it wasn’t LA?

[@roberthansen2008]

Who knows because now Amtrak has the train that goes from Pontiac to Detroit but then it continues to Chicago. I'm not sure in the evening but I know in the morning there's one that could possibly act as a commuter train.

[@cgimovieman]

I grew up in Central Michigan in the 80’s and 90’s, and it was always very frustrating to me that Michigan’s one really big city was in such horrible condition. All of my family from my parents, to grandparents, to aunts and uncles wouldn’t even let me go to the actual city, it was considered so dangerous and undesirable. So I spent much more time in Chicago as big cities go. It’s too bad it took basically a total collapse and the actual razing of buildings back to grasslands before rebuilding, renovation, and some healing could take place in the most recent 10 years or so. But there is a LOT left to go. Detroit has SO much potential, but it’s going to take a long time I think. As public transit goes, I completely understand that Detroit is the “motor city”, but it’s too bad the public transport infrastructure is so incredibly limited. The Q-line is a good first step, but so short and just one line. The People Mover had such potential to be this cool feature of Detroit back in the day if it just expanded all over, but it’s pretty much remained just one very short loop that you can practically walk faster and, in my opinion, pretty useless and without character. I mean you sure don’t think of it like the L in Chicago, the Tube in London, the subway in NYC, or even the Bart in the San Francisco Bay Area. Although I get that’s not exact comparing apples to apples. But I sure hope Detroit can continue to get better. Back in the first half of the 20th century, it was talked about as being the “Paris of the west”. Which may seem laughable today, but you can still see some remnants and ruins of why people thought of it that way. Some of its old theaters, the Detroit Institute of Arts, its road system, including the first paved road in America, the old Detroit Central Station that’s now being renovated and saved, the Windsor Tunnel and Ambassador Bridge, and even many of the public schools looked more like universities of today. There were many things that contributed to Detroit’s fall. Most notably being so dependent on one industry, and massive amounts of corruption in some of its leaders. But that’s in the past now. The city is on a new path, and I hope it can just get better and better.

[@edwardmiessner6502]

This is so sad. Detroit could have had decent commuter rail, a subway, a skytrain, and scores of miles of streetcars/tramways. But they decided to go all out for compulsory automobility instead and that destroyed the city, especially when Germany, Japan and Korea out competed the big three automakers.

[@ALuimes]

The 1967 riots destroyed the city, not cars. If cars destroyed cities, why didn't all Canadian/US cities become wastelands?

[@Conellossus]

I was expected Detroit to only have a minute or less of actually transit evolution, but I was genuinely surprised to find they have some decent history. Great video btw.

[@brasp]

As recent as 2016 suburbs blocked a rail system that would again connect from detroit to Pontiac.

[@Fan652w]

Wikipedia tells us that the Detroit Metropolitan area has a population of 4,3 million. There is only one word for the current rail 'network' in Detroit - pathetic!.

[@VanishingUnderground]

I’m using the population of Wayne County, since that’s the only county served by the people mover and streetcar

[@bigmac3011]

If you’re going to do that you really should use only the population of Detroit, as both the people mover and streetcar are wholly within the city limits. In 2021 the population was 632,464.

[@rbtheballer]

@@VanishingUnderground the people mover and q line don’t serve that county lmao that’s a very misleading statement.

[@schwenda3727]

Ladies & Gentlemen: presenting just about THE largest metropolitan/combined statistical area with the least reaching mass transit system in the union, if not including Canada… It seems that Grand Rapids has further reaching mass transit primarily thanks to what? TWO BRT lines?!

[@MrFullService]

Beginning in the 1890's and continuing until April, 1956, Detroit had an extensive (528 miles of track at its height!) streetcar system. One could go anywhere in that city, and its immediate environs. The auto industry giants insisted that the transit system be destroyed. Then, during the early to mid 1960s (UGH!) literal swaths of that town were sacrificed in order to build its strangling expressways.

[@GojiMet86]

The MBTA in Boston actually wound up with a couple of former SEMTA engines. Interestingly, there have been comtemporary plans to restart commuter rail service. MiTrain (formerly SEMCOG) is the proposed Ann Arbor-Detroit Regional Rail. It has even gone as far as obtaining former METRA bi-levels. However, there have been no updates in a while.

[@maas1208]

MiTrain is Mostly likely cancelled since it's rolling stock was given to WeGo Star and West Coast Express

[@gevans446]

LFG! We got a Vanishing Underground video!

[@emjeebutterz4405]

As someone living in the Detroit area, I agree with other people who say that our city has a long way to go transit-wise, especially in the realm of rail service. We've had quite a few major missed opportunities in the past, such as the original plans for the People Mover, the proposed subway network which lost by one vote, and most recently MiTrain, which would have been absolute game-changers if they were implemented. However, when you're at the lowest of lows, the only way to go is up, and I really hope we see some positive change in the transit atmosphere for the Detroit metro area in the coming decades.

[@jonr6558]

They need more lines downtown connecting to the suburbs!

[@brasp]

tell that to the suburbs who for some reason, oppose this idea any time its brought up.

[@centredoorplugsthornton4112]

Detroit's current city population is less than 700,000, down from some 2 mln during it's and America's industrial heyday. Jackson-Detroit commuter service was run by Amtrak and subsidized by Michigan DOT. It was outside SEMTA jurisdiction and lasted til January 1984, though cut back to Ann Arbor. SEMTA ceased existence along with Pontiac commuter rail. Bus service is run by SMART, Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transit. Detroit city buses are run by Detroit DOT, formed in the 1970s to replace DSR, Department of Street Railways. During the 1990s Amtrak and Michigan DOT extended Chicago-Detroit service to Pontiac over the line previously used by SEMTA. A new Detroit station was built to facilitate the extension.

[@amfm889]

People Mover cars are the "Mark I" ALRV vehicles, still in service on Vancouver's Skytrain.

[@Jasoncw87]

The SEMTA commuter rail issue was less about ridership or the state of downtown, and more that SEMTA didn't have a funding source, it just applied for grants and sometimes made agreements with local governments. So when they took over the death spiraling private transit (the commuter rail, and also small bus companies), the death spiral simply continued.

[@strongbad635]

Holy moly this is so sad

[@amiranore1707]

This is depressing I hope they get more rail

[@suidrac]

Yes it is.

[@JeffFrmJoisey]

So, what city’s subway is shown at the beginning of “Bob ❤️ Abishola” that gives the illusion of Detroit having a subway?

[@skywardlp4916]

While obviously not ideal, the Red Line/Green Line solution to keeping service on the damaged People Mover is weirdly clever. It's basically a 1-line S-Bahn!

[@SCANNO21]

Welcome back and thanks for this new video Zach !

[@timothytao898]

"How did the system grow from its original network ... " I think you meant, "how did the system shrink from its original network ... " What a tragicomedy.

[@AnimeMusicProfessor]

The state of commuter rail in Detroit is quite depressing. There are literally no major train lines that serve the community outside of the downtown area. It is decades behind the much smaller cities: In comparison, Salt Lake City is a third of the size of Detroit, yet has a robust system of 3 light rail trains with 42.5 miles of line and 50 stations. Plus a commuter train to the ski slopes. You'd think Detroit train lines to the airport, Dearborn and Pontiac would be no-brainers. However the auto industry literally runs the town and sees future lines as a threat to it's profits.

[@BettaB2010]

Video Idea: Amtrak network evolution

[@marcusfuller6657]

Hey my friend it's good to see you back 😊

[@FreeJaffa92]

That’s a pretty disappointing transit network for such a big city. Great video.

[@brendanu1680]

2 Things: 1. Why didn't you include the future MiTrain? 2. Will Nashville have it's brt routes?

[@SpaceboyYT]

MiTrain doesn’t have a construction tender.

[@gloryannbatista6211]

OK next video suggestion Chicago's subway network Also thanks for choosing my Detroit People mover Commuter rail And light rail network

[@iamwill89]

The People mover should’ve been extended north into the suburbs and west to the airport.

[@Shane_Shaney]

💯 I don’t want to hear about Qline expansion, not that I’m opposed to it, but mostly because it’s not going to solve our biggest issues. The Qline is just a streetcar, not a rapid transit, and it is best to keep in small distances with maybe a couple small expansions going east on Jefferson and west on Michigan from Downtown. I totally agree with you. We need a massive expansion of the People Mover, kept entirely separate from car traffic, with multiple lines going throughout the city and Wayne County at the very least. The 1974 map (Google it if you haven’t seen it before) of the proposed People Mover is a perfect start.

[@harrisonc985]

Did anyone else find it hilarious that the people mover was plastered in mercedes advertisements? Its the revenge of the krauts!

[@noahman02]

I’m pretty sure the people mover is back to running counter-clockwise, I rode it about two months ago and that’s the direction it moved in. Great video though.

[@demonizedking619]

Hey Zach I love the way you show and tell the history of the various networks throughout the us and it's neighboring countries and the first video I seen of yours is covering the Portland Oregon trimet max system and been watching your videos like it's going out of style but I am curious how did the new York system start out as and how it involved from it's original stations to today because I see one video of it from a different KZbinr but that's too fast pasted so please can you do new York next?

[@cartermoberg3092]

I appreciate you covering smaller transit services, Detroit thanks you, (even tho we deserve more transit 😫😂)

[@roberthansen2008]

Good video I like it. Keep up the great work man I wrote that people move her a few times way long time ago. I'll have to check out that q line.

[@ericcriteser4001]

I was on the final SEMTA train in 1983..

[@HighIronProductions]

Very infotmative. What about the Detroit Downtown Trolley that ran using vintage cars?

[@WalterAndMatt4084]

Please do the Long Island Railroad

[@jetfan925]

There is an error on the QLine station names. Amtrak is called Baltimore, Sibley is called Sproat/Adelaide, and Foxtown is called Montcalm. I hope you can fix it.

[@TrainSounds]

What about the Chicago El?

[@herschelwright4663]

Detroit is actually around 600,000 people, which is down from 1.8 million.

[@ayeeeeeeee6240]

i think he’s referring to Wayne county’s population

[@herschelwright4663]

@@ayeeeeeeee6240 my mistake!

[@Izon14n]

one of the subway models looks like toronto's RT on line 3

[@MrSuperpiff4]

Waiting on the LIRR or Metro-North evolution 🤓

[@PTB_BE]

Man... this is depressing

[@Geotpf]

I'm pretty sure the People Mover was completely shut down for at least a year starting in 2020 due to Covid. You mentioned other shutdowns so it would make sense to include that for consistency.

[@Knightmessenger]

It reopened in May 2022 after closing on March 30, 2020.

[@alex2143]

Utrecht in the Netherlands has a population of about 360k. It has the busiest train station in the Netherlands, serving more than 200k daily travellers pre-COVID. It has a total of 9 train stations. It also has rapid trams, a very good bus network, and top notch bike infrastructure (including the ability to rent public transit bikes at Utrecht Centraal). And it manages to do that while being very accessible for cars. Probably because of all of the space that's left over by all of the people not using cars. So you're welcome, motorists. Anyways, there's no excuse for this horrible level of public transit. This is absolutely shit tier and the city should be embarassed.

[@urbanpreppie05]

question…have you been to detroit?

[@alex2143]

@@urbanpreppie05 No. Have you? Care to speculate why the mode share of walking, cycling and public transportation COMBINED in Detroit is just 3%? Could it be that walking, cycling and using public transportation in Detroit just flat out sucks?

[@urbanpreppie05]

@@alex2143 Its a list of reasons. Racial, Economical, government funding (Metro Detroit has two metro bus systems, SMART and DART), and the fact that with all this decay (and yes, there have been some great strides) you have a city with a layout based on the car with streets and land for nearly three times its current population. To get more transit and cycling infrastructure the city would literally have to shrink and turn swaths of the city to urban farms. I've been to Detroit a few times- ridden the people mover and am glad to see historical buildings like the Book Cadillac, Mich Central station and more be preserved with new features like the arena and Q line. But to get to be a city that relies more on transit, biking and walking- there's still a LOT to do.

[@alex2143]

@@urbanpreppie05 you're wrong about what it takes to become a bikeable city. It is comparatively incredibly cheap and cost efficient to build a bike network. All that's required is to view cycling as a first class mode of transportation equal to (or preferable to) the automobile, and acting on those priorities. Good bike infrastructure does wonders for the accessibility of public transit as well, and you could do with much less of it and still have great service. The fact of the matter is that the mode share being what it is today is a representation of the values of the city. They see driving as the default mode of transport, and anything else is for poor people. And by poor people, I mean second class citizens that the city does not need to cater to. So I'm not holding my breath for this to change. All that would be required would be to make it a political priority, and that's not gonna happen anytime soon.

[@VieleGuteFahrer]

Okay? 🤔

[@marshallhillyer2274]

I have not been here before

[@scootwilson2975]

Can you do nyc please even though it’s one of the biggest subway system in the world.

[@Kludgzenjammer]

I knew that SEMTA collapsed in less than a decade but seeing the people mover (great caveman title) collapse right after got me laughing HARD.

[@bossfight6125]

Chicago L evolution next?

[@VanishingUnderground]

It’s in the works, but it’s quite a bit of research. Hopefully March or April…

[@Conellossus]

@@VanishingUnderground I know that Chicago has a long history and the video will take a while to make, but you could probably get away with copying MetroLiner's video who did the same thing and already did the research himself.

[@bossfight6125]

@@VanishingUnderground Is that your plan for your next video

[@rmcrae62]

The People Mover regularly runs empty. It is a boondoggle.

[@fernbedek6302]

Detroit has commuter rail?😮

[@calebjiang4056]

Had*. Unless you count the wolverine

[@RaisedLetter]

A sad state of affairs

[@champan250]

This is just so sad

[@TransportGeekery]

Tl;dr - circular lines are a bad idea

[@joshuafajardo5697]

🚊🚆🇺🇸

[@billbirkett7166]

How do you come up with a population of 1.8 million people? That was the population in 1950, the 2020 population was almost down to 600,000. Detroit's public transit is so pathetic that it hardly deserves any real discussion anyway...so glad I'm out of that hellhole of a city.

[@ScottTooley]

I was going to ask the same thing. The City is 600k and the Metro pop is over 4 million.

[@St.souptown]

Yu bbbfffnu