Eric D. Lawrence

Detroit Free Press

A QLINE streetcar is expected to make its first trip along the entire Woodward Avenue route on Tuesday morning.

Unless particularly severe weather intervenes, the streetcar will drive out of its storage location at the Penske Tech Center in Detroit's North End, but it will not travel under its own power the rest of the way or back.

Instead it will be pulled by a tow truck as part of a series of tests M-1 Rail is conducting to get ready for next year's operational launch, according to Dan Lijana, a spokesman for M-1 Rail, the entity building the system.

"We’re still working to finish the powering of the system, and we want to be able to check the entire track, and towing allows us to do that," Lijana said, noting that the streetcar would travel at walking speed. "It will stop at every station and run through a series of testing that mirrors actual operations."

► First glimpse:Take a look at a future QLINE station

Safety personnel are to walk beside the streetcar as it makes its way down the 3.3-mile route and back. In addition, additional safety vehicles are expected to travel in front of and behind the streetcar.

The test run follows a series of announcements in recent weeks from M-1 Rail, such as the end of road reconstruction on Woodward and the release of a rendering showing how a QLINE station might look when completed. Tuesday's test is expected to be the first of a week's worth of testing on Woodward for the streetcar.

► Related: Woodward construction for QLINE is finished

Contact Eric D. Lawrence: elawrence@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter:@_ericdlawrence.