The derailment Thursday night of the Detroit People Mover, a 2.9-mile monorail system downtown, has one rider feeling “blessed to tell the story” and determined to never ride it again.
Angelica Martin, a Roseville resident, confirmed to MLive.com early Friday morning the People Mover derailed Thursday night and caused service to be disrupted indefinitely after it sideswiped the Times Square station near the Rosa Parks Transit Center.
About 30 passengers in the People Mover ran out of the monorail’s two cars too the Times Square station’s platform with fear the two cars would fall over in the opposite direction onto the street, Martin said.
“It felt like a bump initially,” said Martin, who lived the first 18 years of her life in Detroit. “And then everyone kind of screamed … then I felt a second bump and the second bump felt even more like the People Mover was going to derail. Then people started to scream again!”
Martin didn’t notice any passengers with injuries after the accident and added that most of the group, including herself, fled the scene in a matter of seconds.
An update on the People Mover’s website, posted early Friday morning, said no injuries were reported at the scene after a People Mover car derailed at 10:10 p.m. Thursday at the Times Square Station.
The entire transportation system, according to the website, closed immediately after the accident.
It’s unclear when service to the monorail will be restored. The People Mover’s Twitter page posted the follow message early Friday morning:
@EricLacy The DPM is closed while the matter is investigated. Operational status for today will be updated when more info is available.
— Detroit People Mover (@detpeoplemover) January 23, 2015
In the meantime, Detroit Department of Transportation busses are expected to serve as part of the city’s contingency plan to take North American International Auto Show visitors to and from Cobo Center.
After the accident Thursday night, Martin said passengers’ fear didn’t subside once the People Mover’s two cars stopped.
Most were then terrified about the potential of oncoming People Mover cars colliding with the idle pair stuck at the platform, she said.
According to the People Mover’s website, the system’s fleet consists of 12 fully automated and computer controlled vehicles with motors that can provide a maximum velocity of 56 miles per hour.
“We were all scared that one People Mover (set of attached cars) was going to hit another,” Martin said. “There just wasn’t much time to think too far ahead about what to do next. We all flew out the doors.
“Everyone had to run; it was like ‘Oh my gosh! What is going on?”