A streetcar beneath the railway bridge as a Norfolk Southern freight passes above (2021) — Michael Barera · CC BY-SA 4.0

QLINE / Stop 11 of 12

QLINE stopBaltimore Street

Center platform in the middle of Woodward · transfer to Amtrak

A center platform by Detroit’s Amtrak station in New Center: Wolverine trains to Chicago, express buses north up Woodward, and the College for Creative Studies a few minutes away.

↑ north: 8:23

↓ south: 7:31

Platforms: one center platform
District: New Center
From Congress Street: 23 min
From Grand Boulevard: 1 min
Sponsor in 2017: Penske

01 / Story

The stop’s story

Baltimore Street is the QLINE’s railway station. Detroit’s Amtrak station was built in 1994 to replace Michigan Central Station, which closed on January 6, 1988; its platform sits on the elevated railway, reached by a tower at the back of the building. Wolverine trains leave here for Chicago, and according to the QLINE’s 2022 transfer guide, SMART’s Woodward express buses and DDOT’s round-the-clock route 4 stop right across from the platform.

The stop was sponsored in 2017 by Penske, the company of Roger Penske, who chaired M-1 RAIL from the first day to the handover. The official QLINE site recommends Baltimore as its “Shop Detroit” stop.

The College for Creative Studies’ design school occupies the Argonaut Building: GM’s former research laboratory was renamed the A. Alfred Taubman Center for Design Education in 2009. During the 2024 NFL Draft, car parks near Baltimore also served as park-and-ride sites.

Transfer to Amtrak’s Wolverine trains
SMART’s Woodward express buses and DDOT route 4
The Argonaut Building and the College for Creative Studies
A center platform in the heart of New Center

02 / From the window

What you see from here

From the center platform you see the railway overpass to the south and the Amtrak station’s tower to the west. Ahead toward Grand Boulevard, Cadillac Place, General Motors’ former headquarters, rises on the left, with the Fisher Building facing it.

03 / Timeline

The stop’s timeline

January 6, 1988
Michigan Central closes
Amtrak leaves Detroit’s grand railway station.
1994
A new Amtrak station
The New Center station is built at Woodward and Baltimore.
2009
Taubman Center
The Argonaut Building becomes the College for Creative Studies’ design school.
May 12, 2017
The stop opens
The stop is sponsored by Penske.
April 2024
NFL Draft
Nearby lots work as park-and-ride sites.
Today
The streetcar stops here every fifteen minutes, free of charge.

04 / Did you know?

Did you know?

The State of Michigan bought the Amtrak station site from General Motors for $889,000 in 1994.
A 1913 fire forced Michigan Central Station to open before it was finished, and Amtrak used it until 1988.
The railway bridge is about 65 meters from the stop: streetcars and cars pass underneath, while four tracks cross Woodward overhead.

A closer look

Detroit’s Amtrak station at Woodward and Baltimore (2024) — Cards84664 · CC BY-SA 4.0

The College for Creative Studies’ Taubman Center in the Argonaut Building, with the Fisher Building behind (2009) — Dig Downtown Detroit · CC BY 2.0

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

Detroit Amtrak station 2 min
The Wolverine trains’ station, toward Chicago, Ann Arbor and Pontiac.
Argonaut Building – College for Creative Studies 4 min
GM’s former research laboratory, now a design school.
Cadillac Place 4 min
General Motors’ former headquarters, a National Historic Landmark.
Fisher Building 6 min
Albert Kahn’s 1928 Art Deco tower, home of the Fisher Theatre.