![]() The Cape Codder at Buzzards Bay in July 1996 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Overview | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Service type | Inter-city rail | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Status | Discontinued | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Locale | New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Predecessor | Day Cape Codder | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
First service | July 3, 1986 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Last service | September 29, 1996 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Former operator(s) | New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Amtrak | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Route | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Termini | New York City Hyannis, Massachusetts | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Stops | 8 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Distance travelled | 264 miles (425 km) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Average journey time | 6 hours 28 minutes | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Service frequency | Weekly | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Train number(s) | 234/235 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
On-board services | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Class(es) | Reserved coach and Club Service | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Catering facilities | On-board cafe | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Technical | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rolling stock | Amfleet coaches | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
The Cape Codder was a seasonal passenger train operated by Amtrak between New York City and Hyannis, Massachusetts, on Cape Cod. It operated during the summer between 1986 and 1996. It was the first regular service from New York to the Cape since 1964. The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad previously had operated a train under this name until 1958.
From its demise in 1996 there was no passenger rail service to Cape Cod until the beginning of the summer of 2013 when the MBTA's CapeFLYER began connecting Boston's South Station to Hyannis.
Service beyond Harwich to Provincetown at the end of the Cape ended by the late 1930s. Regular service was suspended from 1941 to 1948, owing to World War II. [1] The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad ran combined through trains with the Pennsylvania Railroad from Washington to Hyannis until 1958. The Day Cape Codder and Neptune combined to provide service six days per week July–September, with the Day Cape Codder operating all days except Wednesday and Friday and the Neptune operating on Fridays only. The trains ran from New York to Hyannis, with a section splitting at Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts for Woods Hole, Massachusetts. Passengers coming from Boston connected in Providence, Rhode Island. The PRR and the NH offered a night train, The Night Cape Codder, from Washington and New York on Friday nights. The companies offered a return train from the Cape on Sunday nights. The companies' New York–Cape Cod service from 1958 to 1964 was summer only. The New Haven Railroad stopped serving Cape Cod altogether in 1964. [2] : 109–110 [3] [4]
The train operated as an express in Connecticut and on the Cape. In the latter case, it bypassed stations served by the Boston-Hyannis trains.
Station stops on Day Cape Codder: Grand Central Terminal, 125th Street, Stamford, New Haven, New London, Providence, Taunton, Buzzards Bay, Yarmouth, Hyannis. The stations from 125th to Providence were only for receiving passengers, heading east, and the oppose, when heading west. At Buzzard Bay, a branch would split for Woods Hole where passengers could catch steamers for Nantucket Island. [5]
Amtrak launched the Cape Codder on July 3, 1986. The original schedule included four trains weekly: trains from New York to Hyannis on Friday evening (#272) and Saturday morning (#270), and trains from Hyannis to New York on Saturday (#271) and Sunday afternoon (#273). Amtrak advertised the service as "Washington –New York–Hyannis", although only #272 originated in Washington. All other connections required a connecting train. The train operated through September and featured "Club Service: Deluxe reserved seating. Beverages and complimentary meals served at your seat.". [6] [7]
For the 1988 season Amtrak established connections with the Cape Cod and Hyannis Railroad, a tourist railroad which in partnership with Massachusetts offered daily service from Boston to the Cape, originating at the Braintree MBTA station. Amtrak passengers coming off the Northeast Corridor could be through-ticketed destinations on the Cape and would change to Cape Cod and Hyannis train at Attleboro. Separate sections served Hyannis and Falmouth. This service supplemented the weekend Cape Codder, once again providing daily service to the Cape. [8] This interline service did not resume in 1989 after the Cape Cod and Hyannis Railroad folded. [9] Amtrak service to Attleboro ended at the same time. [10] Massachusetts provided financial support for the trains from 1986–1988. [11]
Beginning in 1989 Amtrak truncated the Saturday round-trip to Providence with a scheduled connection to another train; this round-trip was named Clamdigger for the 1990 season and given new numbers (#433 westbound and #438 eastbound). The Friday/Sunday train pair became #234/#235. [12] By 1993 the Saturday service was gone and the Friday/Sunday pair operated to New York only, with connections south. [13] For its final season in 1996 the Cape Codder originated in Boston, ran down the Northeast Corridor to Providence, then turned and ran east to Hyannis. Service from Washington and New York was available via a connecting train in Providence. [14]
Amtrak did not resume the Cape Codder for the 1997 season. The limited schedule, coupled with the fact that passengers found it difficult to navigate the Cape without an automobile, discouraged potential passengers. The service carried just 1,200 passengers in 1996, representing a 50% drop from 1995. [15]
Since its demise in 1996, were periodic discussions about reinstating passenger rail service from Boston to reduce car traffic to and from the Cape, with officials in Bourne seeking to extend MBTA Commuter Rail service from Middleboro to Buzzards Bay. [16] Scheduled passenger service between Boston and Hyannis resumed in May 2013 with the inauguration of the CapeFLYER , a collaboration between the Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority and the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, and it was made permanent in the 2014 summer season after a successful trial run during the first year.
The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad, commonly known as The Consolidated, or simply as the New Haven, was a railroad that operated principally in the New England region of the United States from 1872 to December 31, 1968. Founded by the merger of the New York and New Haven and Hartford and New Haven railroads, the company had near-total dominance of railroad traffic in Southern New England for the first half of the 20th century.
The MBTA Commuter Rail system serves as the commuter rail arm of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's (MBTA's) transportation coverage of Greater Boston in the United States. Trains run over 394 mi (634 km) of track to 135 stations. It is operated under contract by Keolis, which took over operations on July 1, 2014, from the Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad Company (MBCR).
The Old Colony Railroad (OC) was a major railroad system, mainly covering southeastern Massachusetts and parts of Rhode Island, which operated from 1845 to 1893. Old Colony trains ran from Boston to points such as Plymouth, Fall River, New Bedford, Newport, Providence, Fitchburg, Lowell and Cape Cod. For many years the Old Colony Railroad Company also operated steamboat and ferry lines, including those of the Fall River Line with express train service from Boston to its wharf in Fall River where passengers boarded luxury liners to New York City. The company also briefly operated a railroad line on Martha's Vineyard, as well as the freight-only Union Freight Railroad in Boston. The OC was named after the "Old Colony", the nickname for the Plymouth Colony.
The Cape Cod Central Railroad is a heritage railroad located on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. It operates on a rail line known as the Cape Main Line which is owned by Massachusetts Department of Transportation. The line was previously owned and operated by the Cape Cod Railroad, the Old Colony Railroad, and later the New Haven Railroad, each of which operated passenger trains on the line from 1854 to 1959. Although its namesake is the former Cape Cod Central Railroad (1861–1868), the two companies are unrelated.
The Cape Cod Railroad is a railroad in southeastern Massachusetts, running from Pilgrim Junction in Middleborough across the Cape Cod Canal Railroad Bridge, where it splits towards Hyannis in one direction and Falmouth in the other. It was incorporated in 1846 as the Cape Cod Branch Railroad to provide a rail link from the Fall River Railroad line in Middleborough to Cape Cod.
The Old Colony Lines are a pair of branches of the MBTA Commuter Rail system, connecting downtown Boston, Massachusetts with the South Shore and cranberry-farming country to the south and southeast. The two branches operate concurrently for 10 miles (16 km) via the Old Colony Mainline from South Station to Braintree station. The Middleborough/Lakeville Line then winds south through Holbrook, Brockton, Bridgewater, Middleborough, and Lakeville via the Middleborough Main Line and Cape Main Line. The Kingston Line heads southeast to serve Weymouth, Abington, Whitman, Hanson, Halifax, and Kingston by way of the Plymouth branch. Limited service to Plymouth was provided prior to April 2021 but was cut due to low ridership and budget constraints. The Greenbush Line, which was also part of the Old Colony Division, was reactivated in 2007 as a separate project.
The Providence/Stoughton Line is an MBTA Commuter Rail service in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, primarily serving the southwestern suburbs of Boston. Most service runs entirely on the Northeast Corridor between South Station in Boston and Providence station or Wickford Junction station in Rhode Island, while the Stoughton Branch splits at Canton Junction and terminates at Stoughton. It is the longest MBTA Commuter Rail line, and the only one that operates outside Massachusetts. The line is the busiest on the MBTA Commuter Rail system, with 17,648 daily boardings in an October 2022 count.
The Middleboro Secondary is a railroad line owned by MassDOT in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. The line runs from Attleboro to Middleborough via Taunton.
Attleboro station is a commuter rail station on the MBTA's Providence/Stoughton Line located in Attleboro, Massachusetts. By a 2018 count, Attleboro had 1,547 daily riders, making it the fourth busiest station on the system outside Boston.
West Barnstable station is a railway station in West Barnstable, Massachusetts. The train station currently serves as a weekend stop for several excursion trains operated by the Cape Cod Central Railroad. The station building, which is owned by the Town of Barnstable, Massachusetts, is the headquarters on the Cape Cod Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society (NRHS).
Sandwich station is a railway station in Sandwich, Massachusetts on Cape Cod. It is currently only used by the Cape Cod Central Railroad as a whistle stop for its seasonal excursion trains.
The Hyannis Transportation Center (HTC) is an intermodal transportation center in Hyannis, Massachusetts, operated by the Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority (CCRTA). It is the terminus for several CCRTA bus lines and its CapeFLYER passenger train that operates on summer weekends between Boston South Station and Hyannis. It is also used by the Plymouth and Brockton Street Railway, Peter Pan Bus Lines, and Greyhound via CapeBus intercity bus services. The Cape Cod Central Railroad uses a separate station building across the tracks for its excursion services. A rail yard used by the Cape Cod Central is located north of the station, along with a former roundhouse.
The Beacon Hill was a daily 157-mile (253 km) commuter rail service operated by Amtrak between Boston, Massachusetts, and New Haven, Connecticut, from 1978 to 1981. The Beacon Hill was one of the last long-haul commuter services operated by Amtrak. Service consisted of a single rush-hour round trip, with service eastbound to Boston in the morning and westbound to New Haven in the evening.
Buzzards Bay station is a train station located on Main Street in Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts. The site also contains an interlocking tower. The Cape Cod Canal Railroad Bridge is adjacent.
The CapeFlyer is a passenger rail service in Massachusetts between Boston and Cape Cod that began in 2013. It is operated by the Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority (CCRTA) in collaboration with the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) and the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT). The service runs on the weekends, beginning Friday evenings and including holidays, between Memorial Day weekend and Labor Day weekend.
The Cape Cod & Hyannis Railroad was a railroad that provided tourist and seasonal passenger services in Southeastern Massachusetts in the 1980s. Its primary service operated from the Braintree MBTA station to Hyannis on Cape Cod; branches to Attleboro and Falmouth also operated in some years. The service ended after the 1988 summer season amid early-1989 state budget cuts in Massachusetts; much of the same trackage is being used for the seasonal CapeFLYER service.
Wareham Village station is a train station that is located on Merchants Way in Wareham, Massachusetts. Service to Wareham formerly ran from 1848 until 1959. A shelter, built in 1985 for short-lived Amtrak and commuter service, is currently unused. A new platform constructed nearby for the CapeFLYER summer weekend service opened for the CapeFLYER on June 27, 2014.
Taunton station was a passenger rail station located south of Oak Street in downtown Taunton, Massachusetts. As Taunton Central station, it served local and Boston-focused routes from 1836 to 1964. A later station at the same site served Amtrak's Cape Codder from 1986 to 1996, and Cape Cod and Hyannis Railroad commuter trains in 1988.
Middleborough station is an under-construction MBTA Commuter Rail station in Middleborough, Massachusetts. It is expected to open in May 2025 as part of the South Coast Rail project, replacing Middleborough/Lakeville station for regular service. The station will have a single side platform located inside the wye between the Middleborough Main Line and the Middleboro Secondary.
The Cape Codder was a pair of day and night passenger trains run by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad (NH) from the latter 1920s to the mid 1960s, with some brief interruptions. Its distinction was the longest tenure of direct summertime New York City to Cape Cod trains. With the improvement of highways in southeastern Massachusetts, passenger rail traffic diminished, and the Cape Codder service ended with the New Haven Railroad's discontinuing of passenger rail service to Cape Cod.