Passenger Trains > All Aboard the CapeFLYER

The summertime Boston-Hyannis passenger train service is to be named the CapeFLYER.

The trains are tentatively planned to operate weekend service (Friday evening through Sunday evening)
between Memorial Day and Labor Day.

Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority is to operate the trains on behalf of the Cape Cod Regional
Transit Authority.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/14/12 12:52 by GenePoon.

http://www.capecoddersgogreen.com/2012/12/all-aboard-capeflyer-rail-service-to.html

Great News! Hopefully this will spawn year-round daily service aimed at the growing population of Cape residents who commute to jobs in the Boston area. The last scheduled service between Hyannis and South Station was discontinued in May 1959. For a couple of years in the '80's the state sponsored service operated by shortline operator between the Braintree Red Line terminal and Hyannis, prior to the restoration of the Old Colony commuter rail lines between Quincy and Boston.

If they can figure out how to engage a catering firm to provide bar and snack service it should make the trip even more appealing.

Dave

DavidP Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> If they can figure out how to engage a catering
> firm to provide bar and snack service it should
> make the trip even more appealing.
>
> Dave

From the article:

The train ride is expected to take roughly two hours one-way and will include a car for bicycles, food service and a bar, Northcross said, adding that Cape-based products such as wine from Truro, Cape Cod Beer and Cape Cod Potato Chips are expected to be served on board.

Is this service going to use the same line recently purchased by Iowa Pacific??

A natural.

Weren't they doing something like this about 15 years ago out of Boston with a mixture of MBTA and Amtrak cars ?

I'm glad to see this, but it's important to remember what happened the last time Massachusetts tried this. For several years in the 1980s the Cape Cod & Hyannis Railroad ran from Braintree Red Line station to Hyannis using former Amtrak equipment and other heritage railroad cars. Amtrak also ran the "Cape Codder" from Washington to Hyannis with Amfleet. Neither service lasted. The state paid for CTC on the line to Hyannis, run from the tower that controls the Cape Cod Canal lift bridge, but it was never activated. The equipment may still be in place.

In 1987 a friend and I rode from New York to Hyannis on a Saturday, then took a CC&H train to Braintree, rode the T to North Station, went to Rockport, stayed overnight, went back into Boston Sunday morning and back to NYC via Bridgeport and the ferry to Port Jefferson. Nice weekend. I still want to do the New London to Orient Point ferry to the LIRR at Greenport. Maybe this summer...

shoretower Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> In 1987 a friend and I rode from New York to
> Hyannis on a Saturday, then took a CC&H train to
> Braintree, rode the T to North Station, went to
> Rockport, stayed overnight, went back into Boston
> Sunday morning and back to NYC via Bridgeport and
> the ferry to Port Jefferson. Nice weekend. I
> still want to do the New London to Orient Point
> ferry to the LIRR at Greenport. Maybe this
> summer...

Interesting, I did a trip very much like yours when I lived in Albany. I rode a special shuttle bus from Albany to LaGuardia, somehow got to Penn State, rode the Cape Codder to Hyannis and then the Cape Code & Hyannis to Braintree. From there, I rode the Red Line to Cambridge where I stayed in some cheap place. The next day I rode to Rockport and back just to add a new rail line and layover in a nice community. Then I rode the Lake Shore back to Albany (Rensselaer).

The highlight of the trip was passing over the Cape Code Canal on the CC & H. The sea breeze wafted through the trains coaches.

One or two GP9s painted in a somewhat New Haven-inspired green with yellow trim scheme pulled the train.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/15/12 14:02 by RuleG.

How does the new MBTA service mesh with Iowa Pacific's long-term plans for the line?

http://www.railwayage.com/index.php/freight/short-lines/iowa-pacific-acquires-cape-rail-inc.html

Was it Patti Page who sang 'Old Cape Cod'?...

Don't know, but you're going back more than a few years on that one!

Yes, she did. In the '50s.