Cape Cod officials say it’s time to extend daily commuter rail to the Cape — or at least as far as Buzzards Bay, to start.
State legislators and Bourne town officials spoke to reporters Wednesday in Buzzards Bay, with the canal railroad bridge as a backdrop.
“Year-round service between Boston and Hyannis ended in 1959, and since then, the Cape and Islands have changed dramatically,” said state Sen. Dylan Fernandes, a Democrat whose district includes the Upper Cape and South Shore. “And despite that incredible growth, car travel remains the primary way people move to and from our region.”
He said ridership on South Coast Rail and the Cape Flyer show train travel to and from the Cape would be viable.
On summer weekends, the Cape Flyer stops in Buzzards Bay, Bourne, and Hyannis. But Fernandes said year-round Cape Cod commuter rail could start by carrying riders between Buzzards Bay and Middleborough to connect to points north.
“We're not asking for that much,” he said. “We're asking for a train, … just a feeder train, from Buzzards Bay to Middleborough.”
The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority has not announced plans to open the service.
The ride from Buzzards Bay to Boston would take about 93 minutes, according to a 2021 state study conducted with assistance from the Cape Cod Commission.
State Rep. Kip Diggs, a Barnstable-area Democrat, said that would be an improvement over driving.
“Takes me two hours to get to Boston from the Cape, really,” he said. “So if I can write, do things, do more for my constituents, that's what it's about, is trying to help all of us. We need to work together, spread the word that Cape Cod is part of Massachusetts, and this is something that needs to be done.”
Not everyone in the community is convinced.
Buzzards Bay resident Sue Barlow, who was walking her dog, Cupcake, said she’s not so sure.
“I'm not really down with the idea of commuter rail coming,” she said. “I just think it's going to be a lot more traffic.”
More people may want to move to the Cape and commute to Boston, she said. “We have a pretty nice little village here, and I'd like to see it stay that way.”
Two Bourne Select Board members, Anne-Marie Siroonian and Peter Meier, endorsed the idea.
Siroonian, the vice chair, said the town has long embraced being classified as a Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority community under law, because it borders Plymouth. She said the town has complied with the law and welcomes rail service.
“It's about constantly saying yes,” she said. “It's about our Planning Department and our elected officials changing zoning and — to embrace being an MBTA community. And time and time again, the people have said yes.”
The 2021 study projected the cost of extending commuter rail to Buzzards Bay — but no farther — at $67 million in 2021 dollars. The estimate assumed the service would use existing trains and infrastructure.
Fernandes said he has not been able to get a more current price from the MBTA.
"So far they've been really unresponsive when it comes to giving us direct numbers on … how much this would cost,” he said.
But he said the main things driving the cost of rail service are track upgrades and platforms, which he called “solved” because of the Cape Flyer.
Gesturing toward the Buzzards Bay platform behind him, he said, “There's a platform, literally right there, that's already in use.”
Other supporters who gathered at Buzzards Bay Park on Wednesday included state Rep. Steven Xiarhos, a Republican who represents Sandwich and parts of Bourne and Barnstable; John Kennedy, administrator of the Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority; the deputy administrator of the Transit Authority, Kathleen Jensen; and Daniel Cadogan, a political director with the Teamsters Rail Conference and member of the Plympton Select Board.
