Cape Flyer

[Arlington]

I really like the idea of using the ice rink parking lot. It would be a perfect counter seasonal use.

[bostontrainguy]

If they want to be serious about serving passengers to Falmouth / Woods Hole then restore service to North Falmouth as Turkington made sure service would not ever get to downtown Falmouth again with the removal of the rails for a bike path. The State has spent big $$$$ to renovate the former Falmouth train depot a couple of years ago with Cahir's past backing of supporting restoring train service when he was behind the previous renovation which included a updated platform, typical politics in action. Included a photo of Tom's RR platform to nowhere which still stands today as a reminder of a poor decision to end Rail service to the Town of Falmouth and the continued road congestion which has resulted, as people have no other options to get to this part of the Cape & Islands.

That decision was unconscionable. How could the State be so short sighted?

[Falmouth Secondary to Otis]

I really like the idea of using the ice rink parking lot. It would be a perfect counter seasonal use.

The rink is closed during the summer and they have large parking lots which are empty, along with no private property abutters as well. So the rink location would be the ideal location as it disturbs nobody and requires no construction other than the platform itself. But the bottom line question is, is it really worth the money to build for a small amount of seasonal weekend passengers that would get off who would still have to board a bus for travel to Falmouth / Woods Hole ?

[Safetee]

The problem with the current Cape Flyer service is that the only Cape stop is in Hyannis. Hyannis may be easy to access by rail but it's hell to get in and of Hyannis by car. So for the 80% of Cape visitors who probably are going anywhere else but Hyannis almost any place else on the Cape would be better than Hyannis to have a station. Which is to say that in my mind, once everyone is over the canal any place but Hyannis would be teriffic. What would be ideal is a large parking lot near route 6 with easy on off access similar to the highly used Barnstable bus parking lot.

[Arlington]

^Totally agreed.

I think a Bourne/Rink is the ideal location for most connecting transit and a decent amount of "kiss and ride" trips where "your weekend host" does the pickup and drop-off.

CCRTA should have 3 routes that meet the Capeflyer at Bourne: Bourne Run and Sandwich Line and a Falmouth/Woods Hole.

Essentially that's: West-Central, North Central, and Westside, all of which are better accessed from Bourne than as backtracks from Hyannis.

And for the same reason it'd work for bus, it would work for kiss-and-ride.

From a lot of the Cape, Bourne woul save 30 min on the train and be a kiss and ride trip 30 minutes faster. Saving an hour would be a big deal.

If not Bourne, then a stop right where the tracks pass under US-6, or a bit closer to Yarmouth. I have only ever used the capeflyer in a kiss and ride way when friends& family were in Eastham.

[Falmouth Secondary to Otis]

The problem with the current Cape Flyer service is that the only Cape stop is in Hyannis. Hyannis may be easy to access by rail but it's hell to get in and of Hyannis by car. So for the 80% of Cape visitors who probably are going anywhere else but Hyannis almost any place else on the Cape would be better than Hyannis to have a station. Which is to say that in my mind, once everyone is over the canal any place but Hyannis would be teriffic. What would be ideal is a large parking lot near route 6 with easy on off access similar to the highly used Barnstable bus parking lot.

Other Cape stops have been requested to Cahir in the past but his answer to that was always that they didn't want to increase the travel time from South Station to Hyannis. His only change which contradicts his previous answer would be to add the Canal stop so passengers wouldn't be sitting on a bus waiting in traffic to travel over the bridge from getting off in Buzzards Bay. To attract more ridership additional Cape stops need to be added seeing that Hyannis as most of us know is not a place to drive to or from in the summer, if it is not your final destination.

[Falmouth Secondary to Otis]

If they want to be serious about serving passengers to Falmouth / Woods Hole then restore service to North Falmouth as Turkington made sure service would not ever get to downtown Falmouth again with the removal of the rails for a bike path. The State has spent big $$$$ to renovate the former Falmouth train depot a couple of years ago with Cahir's past backing of supporting restoring train service when he was behind the previous renovation which included a updated platform, typical politics in action. Included a photo of Tom's RR platform to nowhere which still stands today as a reminder of a poor decision to end Rail service to the Town of Falmouth and the continued road congestion which has resulted, as people have no other options to get to this part of the Cape & Islands.

That decision was unconscionable. How could the State be so short sighted?

That was Eric Turkington's doing as Falmouth's State Representative who slipped that bike path amendment in under the radar to do only a path instead of a Rail with trail scenario. Now look at Falmouth, summer gridlock with a once again renovated station with a RR platform to nowhere.

[CarterB]

I would think a new station at, or close to, N 41.68647 W 70.25778,
just south of the Rte 6 Interchange near Yarmouth, would be ideal for those wanting to go further out, and it's close to the airport as well.

[Arlington]

I would think a new station at, or close to,N 41.68647 W 70.25778,
just south of the Rte 6 Interchange near Yarmouth, would be ideal for those wanting to go further out

Yes, that's where I thought. So, for me, the Cape needs 3 stations:

Hyannis SOUTH COAST & ISLANDS (Ferry Intermodal)
1) The place everyone knows; the population and economic hub of the Cape
2) Love it (but most people resent the road traffic between US-6 and the Station especially if where you're really headed is Boston).

Bourne's Gallo Arena at 231 Sandwich road is the WEST COAST, NORTH COAST, & OTIS-CENTRAL
1) Already has a 1-way road circulation loop
2) Has parking and good apron of asphalt
3) Located so that you haven't "overflown" any demand on the Cape. When the train stops there, you're guaranteed that nobody has any "wasted steps".
4) Direct access south onto MA-28 to Bourne-Otis-Woods Hole
5) Local access to Shore Rd in Bourne & Pocasset (without 28)
6) Local access on 6A to North Coast & Sandwich
7) Nobody nearby (which we'll call a plus here, but is admittedly bad for transit productivity)
8) A great "contra-seasonal" combo. ( LIke a ski and tennis shop )

Yarmouth Station Exit 7 CENTRAL & OUTER CAPE (by Bus & Car)
1) Superior to Hyannis for Yarmouth-Barnstable
2) Superior for everything out 6 Dennis-Chatham-Provincetown
3) Might move it so that it isn't pure park-and-ride (but have retail nearby)
4) The Cape Cod Rail Trail (bikes) is planned to come right to this point (via powerline right of way, rather than via Yarmouth)

CCRT.GIF

[BandA]

Yeah, the problem is not just the bridge in the summer backs up but the backup extends several miles, so these ideas sound good

[Train60]

Yes, that's where I thought. So, for me, the Cape needs 3 stations:
Hyannis SOUTH COAST & ISLANDS (Ferry Intermodal)
Bourne's Gallo Arena at 231 Sandwich road is the WEST COAST, NORTH COAST, & OTIS-CENTRAL
Yarmouth Station Exit 7 CENTRAL & OUTER CAPE (by Bus & Car)

Great ideas but I'm not aware of anyone who is publicly advocating for improved rail service to/from the Cape at the moment. I don't even think expanded service to the Cape got a mention in the recently updated state rail plan.

There's a very active railfan group on Facebook there but no one seems to be organizing local people to advocate for improved service -- which could start with the stations that you identified. Step 1 - local people contacting state reps and senators and the member of Congress for the region.

Also to keep in mind -- for better or for worse, Tom Cahir seems to be holding all of the passenger rail cards, very close to his chest.

[Falmouth Secondary to Otis]

But even Tom Cahir's deck of cards can't utilize the Cape Flyer earlier in the season to help travelers get to & from the Cape this late March / early April when the Bourne Bridge construction repairs begin lasting until Memorial day. 1 Lane restrictions each way will have a lot of people wishing it was an option, while they are sitting in daily back ups to the bridge and any other routes.

[CarterB]

What exactly is Tom Cahir's problem??? It's a no-brainer to add one or two stops on way to/from Hyannis!!!!

[Arborwayfan]

I agree that just getting across the canal would add a lot of value to the train+bus route to Woods Hole etc. Getting to Buzzards Bay and then having to cross the highway bridges sounds like frustration to me. There are also a fair number of houses within walking distance of any likely station near the Bourne Bridge. It might even be good to put the stop right at the Cape end of the bridge: there are houses within walking distance, especially once they build the trail next to the tracks to Gray Gables, and it is very close to the coastal road to Monument Beach, Pocasset, etc., that could be a good route for the connecting bus to take people to the towns along the way to Falmouth. There probably couldnt be much parking, but how much Cape-to-Boston park-and-ride traffic is there?

There are platforms at Sandwich and West Barnstable. Probably just need a wooden mini high. And there are things within easy walking distance: Take Sandwich: houses right next to the station; 0.3 mi to the Daniel Webster Inn in the center of Sandwich; lovely little town center right there, with the gristmill and whatnot; 0.7 miles to Boardwalk Beach via the Sandwich Boardwalk; an existing parking lot at the station, partly covered with overgrown bushes but paved. So what if adding three stops would make it take five or ten or fifteen minutes more to get to Hyannis? It would make it faster to get to the towns with the stops and faster to get to Falmouth. And then the CCRTA would even have the chance to pick up a few extra dollars by selling tix from Sandwich to Hyannis. It seems like such obvious low-hanging fruit.

[Safetee]

The biggest problem with having other than Hyannis on Cape train stops is that those other stops are not in Hyannis. Being the head of CCRT mr cahir is nobly trying to encourage the Flyer while attempting to feed that ridership to the transit authority. there is a problem with the intermodal center program be it pittsfield , hyannis or greenfield. just because the intermodal centers have rail service does not automatically translate into maximized rail patronage.