Cape Cod and Hyannis Railroad

File:Cape Cod and Hyannis Railroad 1988 spring timetable.pdf

The Cape Cod & Hyannis Railroad began running Hyannis - East Sandwich excursion service in 1981.{{cite web |url=https://www.scribd.com/doc/132229338/Cape-Cod-and-Hyannis-Railroad-Inc-Anatomy-of-an-03-Account-June-1989 |title=Cape Cod and Hyannis Railroad Inc.: Anatomy of an 03 Account |date=June 1989 |publisher=Auditor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts |via=Scribd}} Excursion service to Falmouth was added in 1982 and 1983.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z-h7L2onwEwC |title=Railroads of Cape Cod and the Islands |first=Andrew T. |last=Eldredge |publisher=Arcadia Publishing |year=2003|isbn=9780738511573 }} In 1984, the state provided $148,000 in funding to allow the railroad to provide an otherwise-unsubsidized demonstration of regional service connecting to the newly completed Red Line rapid transit line at Braintree. Service between Braintree and the Cape Cod destinations of Hyannis and Falmouth began on June 30, 1984. Trains ran from Braintree to Hyannis and Falmouth. (Service directly to Boston was not possible because the Neponset River bridge had been destroyed by a 1960 fire; a new Neponset River bridge was not opened until Old Colony Lines commuter service began in 1997.{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2209&dat=19880125&id=EuslAAAAIBAJ&pg=1955,7175438 |title=MBTA expansion planned to handle 80% hike in ridership |newspaper=Nashua Telegraph |date=January 25, 1988}}) Intermediate stops initially included Holbrook, Brockton, Bridgewater, Middleboro, Wareham, and Buzzards Bay, plus Sandwich and West Barnstable on Hyannis trains.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/36786694/the_boston_globe/ |title=Passenger train service to Cape Cod begins anew: Hyannis, Falmouth—All aboard! |newspaper=The Boston Globe |page=23 |date=June 30, 1984 |first=Fred |last=Pillsbury |via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}} The two daily round trips - one to each Cape Cod terminal - were the first regular service between the Boston area and the Cape in 25 years. Braintree-Hyannis trips took three hours.

Falmouth service (which ended quickly in 1984) and mid-week runs were dropped due to low ridership. During mid-1985, the railroad operated two round trips on Saturdays and Sundays, with two round trips on Fridays and Mondays for parts of the summer.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/36787065/the_boston_globe/ |title=BRAINTREE-CAPE TRAIN RESUMES TOMORROW |newspaper=Boston Globe |date=May 18, 1985 |page=22 |via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}} Running time was reduced to 2{{frac|1|2}} hours; ridership rose from 8,000 passengers in 1984 to 19,000 in 1985.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/36787140/the_boston_globe/ |title=RAIL SERVICE TO CAPE REPORTS A GOOD YEAR |newspaper=Boston Globe |date=October 6, 1985 |first=Christopher B. |last=Daly |page=86 |via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}}

In 1986, the state approved a $5.5 million multi-year subsidy for seven-day-a-week seasonal service. The railroad's insurance premiums skyrocketed, causing service to be delayed until mid-July.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/36787198/the_boston_globe/ |title=TRAINS ROLLING AGAIN ON CAPE RUN |newspaper=Boston Globe |date=July 13, 1986 |first=Patricia |last=Wen |page=26 |via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}} Despite the delay, ridership still increased.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/36787273/the_boston_globe/|title=CAPE RAIL SERVICE TERMED A SUCCESS |newspaper=Boston Globe |date=October 13, 1986 |page=33 |via=Newspapers.com}}{{open access}} The state continued to subsidize weekday service for the next two years.

Branch line service to Falmouth via a new stop at Cataumet resumed in 1988, along with a new branch to Attleboro via Taunton. Subsidies were cut from the state budget in 1989, and the CC&HR did not resume service that year.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/36787367/the_boston_globe/ |title=DUKAKIS BUDGET WOULD END BRAINTREE-CAPE RAIL SUBSIDY |newspaper=Boston Globe |date=January 28, 1989 |via=Newspapers.com}}{{open access}} In its final year of operation, the CC&HR carried 53,000 passengers between Braintree and Cape Cod, with an additional 6,700 riders on the Attleboro branch. State audits in 1989 and 1990 showed that the family owners of the CC&HR had substantially profited from the subsidies, partially due to a lack of state oversight.

Seasonal Amtrak Cape Codder service, which had begun in 1986, continued until 1996. The Bay Colony Railroad begin operating excursion service between Hyannis and Sagamore until the Cape Cod Railroad brand in 1989; the Cape Cod Central Railroad took over excursion service between Hyannis and Buzzards Bay in 1999.{{cite book |title=The Rail Lines of Southern New England |last=Karr |first=Ronald Dale |publisher=Branch Line Press |year=1995 |isbn=0942147022 |pages=341}} Commuter service between Boston and Middleborough resumed in 1997 when the Middleborough/Lakeville Line of the MBTA Commuter Rail was opened. In 2013, the state began CapeFLYER seasonal weekend service, operated by the MBTA using commuter rail equipment. The CapeFLYER provides similar service to the CC&HR, though it operates directly from Boston and makes fewer stops.

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{{cite news | title=Cape Cod train resumes service | newspaper=Lewiston Journal | date=May 17, 1985 | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=bdVGAAAAIBAJ&pg=4513,2454727}}

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• {{cite journal | last=Nelligan | first=Tom | title=Cape Cod Rail Revival | journal=Trains | date=October 1986 | volume=46 | issue=12 | pages=18–18A | issn=0041-0934}}
• {{cite report |author=Massachusetts. Dept. of the State Auditor |date=October 29, 1990 |title=State Auditor's report on the activities of the Cape Cod and Hyannis Railroad under the 1986, 1987 and 1988 passenger service agreements with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts |url= http://hdl.handle.net/2452/202778 |publisher=Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Office of the State Auditor|hdl=2452/202778 }}
• {{cite report |author=Committee on Post Audit and Oversight, House of Representatives, Commonwealth of Massachusetts |date=June 1989 |title=Cape Cod and Hyannis Railroad Inc. - Anatomy of an 03 Account |url=https://www.scribd.com/doc/132229338/Cape-Cod-and-Hyannis-Railroad-Inc-Anatomy-of-an-03-Account-June-1989}}

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Category:Defunct Massachusetts railroads

Category:Passenger rail transportation in Massachusetts

Category:Public transportation in the Boston area