Getting to the Cape has never been so easy! Ride comfortably from Boston to Cape Cod on CapeFLYER's weekend train service Friday evenings, Saturdays and Sundays starting from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Service to the Cape will be offered between South Station in Boston to Hyannis, with stops in between. When you arrive, you will have access to connections to buses, Island ferries and airlines.
In order to create a car-free vacation and create better multi-modal connections, the CCRTA, in coordination with MassDOT and the MBTA, is introducing the CapeFLYER train service. By increasing the number of transit options on Cape Cod, the CapeFlyer service is consistent with "GreenDOT" and MassDOT's goal to develop "a comprehensive environmental responsibility and sustainability initiative that will make MassDOT a national leader in "greening" the state transportation system.
The Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority (CCRTA) is one of 15 Regional Transit Authorities within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and has been providing public transportation services since 1976 to residents and visitors, as well as consumers of state agencies and human service organizations for all 15 Cape Cod communities. Cape Cod (Barnstable County) towns include Barnstable, Bourne, Brewster, Chatham, Dennis, Eastham, Falmouth, Harwich, Mashpee, Orleans, Provincetown, Sandwich, Truro, Wellfleet and Yarmouth. The CCRTA owns and operates the Hyannis Transportation Center in downtown Hyannis and the CCRTA Operations and Maintenance Facility in South Dennis.
The TripRobin and I sat at a table and he went to get some dinner then I got a pair of large chocolate chip cookies.
The train board had our train as Train 9001 to Hyannis. We waited for a track number then walked out to the train.
We had one of the new MTBA engines, HSP-46 2038 built by MPI in 2014, on the train for the trip to Hyannis and back.
The cafe car has the CapeFlyer markers on it.
We took a right seat in the second coach from the front with 2-2 seating in it. The train left Boston on time and soon we were making our first trip to Hyannis.
I was on new rail mileage as soon as the train left the Northeast Corridor.
The skyline of downtown Boston.
The MTBA South Boston shop building.
Next we headed by the Amtrak Boston maintenance base.
Our route followed the MTBA Red Line to Braintree.
The conductor did not know what to do with our free tickets and he gave them back to us unpunched.
There are 3-2 seats in the Cafe Car hosted by Blondie Catering.
The CapeFlyer cafe area.
This train was mostly full; the first stop was Braintree.
On the approach to our second stop.
The second stop was Brockton.
The large church here.
Out into the country we went as we headed to Middleborough.
We ran through mostly dense coastal forest.
CSX has a yard near Middleborough where we made our next stop of the trip.
The train crossed several streams along our route.
Farming takes place in clearings of the forest.
A lake along our route.
A church in Warehan Village, where train stopped.
Thibinit Pond.
The upper reaches of Buzzards Bay.
Aggawam Pond.
The native trees near the Cape Cod region of the state.
Low level native vegatation.
Views along Buzzards Bay.
The first view of the lift bridge across the Intercoastal Waterway.
Views of Buzzards Bay.
The lift bridge over the Intercoastal Waterway.
The harbor at Buzzards Bay.
The New Haven station in Buzzards Bay built in 1912.
New Haven interlocking tower H416 built in 1911.
We then crossed the lift bridge over the Intercoastal Waterway.
Passing beside the Intercoastal Waterway.
The train ran under the Massachusetts Highway 22 bridge over the Intercoastal Waterway.
A boat on this body of water.
Some of the vegatation on Cape Cod.
Cranberry fields.
Sandwich Creek.
Scarton Creek.
A Cranberry bog.
A little lake.
More cranberry fields.
Low area around Barnstable Bay.
The sun was setting on the train as we neared Hyannis.
Cape Cod Railroad dome car before we arrived at Hyannis where Robin and I detrained for photographs.
The train at Hyannis.
The Hyannis station built in 1854. I then returned to the train for the return trip to Boston. We would have just 20 passengers on this trip so it was a quiet ride. I wrote the story and was allowed to charge my laptop and camera battery in the cafe car. Robin took a nap while I talked with our conductor who punched our tickets, then gave them back to us on the return trip. We arrived at South Station on time and walked through the empty station to the Red Line Subway to Alewife. A special thank you to the Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority for having us on the train for this special trip to Cape Cod. This is truly the way to go to Cape Cod for a weekend trip.
From Alewife I drove Massachusetts Highway 2 to Interstate 95 to the Interstate 90 Tollway then to Massachusetts Highway 9 to the Days Inn near Shrewsbury for this night.
| RETURN TO THE MAIN PAGE |