HYANNIS, Mass. — A Massachusetts legislator has announced plans for a bill that would revive daily commuter train service to Cape Cod, currently served by the summer-weekend-only CapeFlyer service.
The Cape Cod Times reports state Rep. Dylan Fernandes said this week that the service would ease congestion on the Cape’s major roadways and bridges across the Cape Cod Canal, and, according to a 2021 study, would generate 1,700 to 2,500 daily boardings while reducing carbon emssions by 3,400 metric tons.
Restoration of Cape service would come in two phases. The first would begin service from South Station to Buzzards Bay, where infrastructure is already in place and service could begin within 12 months of the bill’s passage. The second would establish the feasibility of daily service to the towns of Falmouth, Bourne, Barnstable, Yarmouth, and Sandwich, and the cost of improving the current rail infrastructure to handle regular passenger service. The CapeFlyer service currently takes up to 2 hours, 38 minutes for the approximately 70-mile trip from South Station to Hyannis.
State House News Service reports the bill would require the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority to operate at least three round trips daily to launch the service to Buzzards Bay.
About 11,000 people have ridden the CapeFlyer this season, Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority Administrator Thomas Cahir told the Cape Cod Times. The train offers one Boston-Hyannis round trip on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, and Labor Day from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day.
Daily Boston-Hyannis service was last offered by the New Haven in 1959.
Also, at one time the NHRR near Hyannis extended all the way to Provincetown. That extension will never be needed.
First things first, which would be the long-promised extensions from Middleborough to the South Coast — Fall River and New Bedford.
Oh and by the way, for those of you who aren’t Massachusetts natives, let me clarify the text above, which confuses by naming the towns to be served but not the place names of the proposed stations. Buzzards Bay is in the Town of Bourne. Hyannis is the major population center in the Town of Barnstable, which is called a “town” but is actually a city.
Thank you for the info Mr, Landey.
Just to clear it up a little more. Buzzards Bay (A village of Bourne) is on the mainland side of the “cape”. The Bourne station would be on the other side of the Cape Cod Canal. Also, they have done tremendous amount of work on the Middleboro station. They have been doing test on the line, So maybe that service will actually happen some day.