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The Campus Martius platform and shelter (2021)
Bluediamond616 · CC BY-SA 4.0

QLINE / Stop 2 of 12

QLINE stopCampus Martius

Two platforms, one each way · on Detroit’s main square

The stop on Detroit’s main square, Campus Martius Park: the ice rink, the city’s Christmas tree, the Hudson’s Detroit tower and Capitol Park a few steps away.

↑ north: 18:20
↓ south: 18:19
Platforms
two curbside platforms
District
Downtown
From Congress Street
5 min
From Grand Boulevard
19 min
Sponsor in 2017
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan

01 / Story

The stop’s story

Campus Martius takes its name from the Latin “Field of Mars”, and after the great fire of 1805 Judge Augustus Woodward made it the center of the rebuilt city. A medallion in the pavement marks the zero point of Detroit’s grid: Seven Mile Road runs seven miles north of here, 8 Mile eight. Today’s park reopened on November 19, 2004, with stages, sculptures and an ice rink modeled on Rockefeller Center’s, only bigger.

In the early 1900s streetcars crowded Campus Martius nose to tail, as the old postcards show. Construction of today’s QLINE officially began right here on July 28, 2014, on the stretch of Woodward between Grand Circus Park and Campus Martius, with Mayor Mike Duggan declaring: “This is history.”

In May 2017, eleven days before opening, one of the new cars made a test run here, with the M-1 Rail badge already on the railings. After the first year the signals at Campus Martius were retimed so the streetcar spends less time at red lights. The stop’s sponsor in 2017 was Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan.

  1. The zero point of Detroit’s Mile Roads
  2. An ice rink and the city’s Christmas tree
  3. The Hudson’s Detroit tower and Rocket Mortgage’s headquarters
  4. Capitol Park and Greektown a few minutes away

02 / From the window

What you see from here

Look around: One Campus Martius, finished in 2003, is now Rocket Mortgage’s headquarters, and on the site of the old Hudson’s department store rises the Hudson’s Detroit tower, the second-tallest building in Detroit. The Civil War–era Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument stands on the square, and to the west you can see the trees of Capitol Park, where Michigan’s first state capitol once stood.

03 / Timeline

The stop’s timeline

  1. Woodward’s plan

    After the great fire, Judge Augustus Woodward makes Campus Martius the center of the new city.

  2. Compuware’s headquarters opens

    One Campus Martius is now Rocket Mortgage’s headquarters.

  3. A park again

    Today’s Campus Martius Park opens with its ice rink.

  4. Construction begins

    A ceremony on the stretch between Grand Circus Park and Campus Martius.

  5. Test run

    Eleven days before opening, a new car makes a test run here.

  6. The stop opens

    The QLINE’s first day; the stop is sponsored by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan.

  7. Retimed signals

    After the first year the signals at Campus Martius are optimized.

  8. The streetcar stops here every fifteen minutes, free of charge.

04 / Did you know?

Did you know?

  • The ice rink was inspired by Rockefeller Center’s in New York, but Detroit’s is bigger.

  • Every year the city’s official Christmas tree is lit here on the Monday before Thanksgiving.

  • The name was borrowed from the main square of Marietta, Ohio, the first capital of the Northwest Territory.

Campus Martius Park from above, with the Civil War monument and the downtown towers (2012)
Sam Beebe · CC BY 2.0
Campus Martius stop (2023)
42-BRT · CC BY-SA 4.0
A test run at Campus Martius, eleven days before opening (May 2017)
A Healthier Michigan · CC BY-SA 2.0
Capitol Park with its evening lights in December (2021)
Michael Barera · CC BY-SA 4.0
The Campus Martius shelter before opening (May 2017)
A Healthier Michigan · CC BY-SA 2.0
Woodward at Campus Martius, spring 2017
A Healthier Michigan · CC BY-SA 2.0
A streetcar around Campus Martius (2021)
Bluediamond616 · CC BY-SA 4.0
The M-1 Rail badge on a railing at Campus Martius (2017)
A Healthier Michigan · CC BY-SA 2.0
Campus Martius in the early 1900s, full of streetcars (Detroit Publishing Co.)
Detroit Publishing Co. · Public domain
Sources & fact check · Checked: 2026-09-26

Every fact is sourced. Where sources disagree (the number of stops, the weight of the cars or the construction cost, for example) we follow the primary, official source and say so in the text. The timetable comes from the QLINE’s official GTFS data and live positions from the RTA’s feed.

05 / Nearby

Places within walking distance

Quarter Detroit places around the stop, with straight-line distances.

Around the stop, from the official QLINE list and the map

  • One Campus Martius 1 min

    Compuware’s 2003 headquarters, now home to Rocket Mortgage.

  • Hudson’s Detroit 3 min

    The tower complex on the site of the legendary Hudson’s store; the taller tower is Detroit’s second-tallest building.

  • Capitol Park 3 min

    A small park where Michigan’s first state capitol once stood, now one of downtown’s liveliest corners.

  • Greektown 8 min

    The entertainment district on Monroe Street with Greek roots, restaurants and a casino.

  • The Belt

    A mural-lined downtown alley, one of the QLINE’s official destinations.

06 / Events

Events near the stop

Upcoming events at venues around the stop.

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No nearby events in the calendar right now.

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