Cape Flyer

malbojah wrote:

Red Wing wrote:
And now fantasy land of splitting the train at the bridge and other part going all the way to the docks in Woods Hole. Insert unicorns and dreams here.

They pulled up the tracks about 5 years ago and replaced it with a paved bikeway

More like 40 years ago...

The Falmouth Branch was shortened a little more in recent years but the last 5 miles are long gone.

Just heard from a little birdie that a non-stop (except braintree) test train from boston to middleboro was ran to find the exact time of that part of the trip (46min OB and 42 IB). Next weekend a test run from Boston to Hyannis is planned with an MC pilot boarding at Middleboro.

I thought this was going to be an add-on to an existing, all-stops run from Boston to Middleborough? I don't think there are any Middleborough expresses at present.

wicked wrote:I thought this was going to be an add-on to an existing, all-stops run from Boston to Middleborough? I don't think there are any Middleborough expresses at present.

That was my understanding as well, particularly since they mentioned a 5:10 departure on Fridays, when there's already a 5:12 Mboro local.

Maybe it will depart at 5:10 ahead of the 5:12 departure using that trains time slot, but running express the regular train will never catch up. I am guessing the reporting of the train may not have been accurate in the press.

Given how much single track there is on that line, is there room for another train spaced that tight?

I wondered about that. The closest same-direction slots currently on the line are about 9 minutes, but all those include JFK or Quincy stops. The 5:12 local would slow down rather quickly for Quincy Center, and would not be near the express again.

I also was under the impression that it would be an add-on to an existing run, as the reason that the train would only make an intermediate stop at Buzzards Bay between Middleboro and Hyannis. The talk of the town is that stops in Sandwich, Wareham, and West Barnstable would be added in the second year, once timing has been established. Although, IMHO, it's kind of a big gamble not to offer the above-named stops in its first year as the service would be depriving potential boardings/alightings at these destinations.

Just going from what I was told. It was just a test train though so they may just be looking into the possibility.

The EGE wrote:I wondered about that. The closest same-direction slots currently on the line are about 9 minutes, but all those include JFK or Quincy stops. The 5:12 local would slow down rather quickly for Quincy Center, and would not be near the express again.

That's not even considering moves on Kingston/Plymouth and Greenbush.

Map of the service I just made for Wikipedia. Right now the official site doesn't show Middleborough/Lakeville as a stop so I'll add that later if it is confirmed as one.


http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File: ... 13_map.svg

A countdown was installed on the Facebook page today. It is set to 5:12pm, indicating that the Friday afternoon train (already confirmed officially to be a local) will be an extension of the existing train.

Which Facebook page would that be?

Any rumors as to when they'll publish a schedule?

diburning wrote:Which Facebook page would that be?

Any rumors as to when they'll publish a schedule?

http://www.facebook.com/Capeflyer

Should be visible even if you don't have an account.

I don't want to speculate too soon, but something tells me that this new service will be so popular they'll have trouble keeping up with ridership demand. In between gas prices and traffic in and around Boston and the Canal bridges (the latter of which can be encountered even with the fastest bus schedule) there is a lot of potential for ridership levels to more than exceed expectations.