I wasn’t a part of the fight but looking into it, the whole thing was ridiculous! In a world of traffic, CO2 emissions, and environmentally friendly transportation, rail would help so much today. Especially if there was direct service to the ferry slip….but I’m not holding my breath.

I think maybe, and this is a big maybe, the reason the Falmouth selectmen and planning board voted down the Bourne bikeways attempt to rip out the active Falmouth secondary is they are starting to realize the mistakes of the past. The reason there is a rail with trail in that section in the video was because the state had not given up any track at that point. The state made them go alongside.The bikeways people were trying to connect the Steamship parking lot with the existing Woods Hole bike path. We tried to use that as an example of what could be for the rest of the line, a rail with trail, but we were instead ridiculed as being delusional for thinking trains would be coming back. What was also a shame was all the brand new grade crossings that were put in from North Falmouth to Falmouth in the 1990s, with the overhead aluminum crossing lights, new heavier rail with rubber matting, all of it never used and removed.

I commend the state for continued investment in the line despite passenger service not running in the 90’s. The Falmouth Station’s 1989 restoration, crossings, and some maintenance all to be eliminated by a few folks in a very unethical way. It’s crazy that MassDOT held on for all those years and then the track got removed just a few years prior to the CapeFlyer’s return. To think with minimal work the track could’ve been reopened for an “Island Flyer” train that would most likely be running today if the track stayed in place. A train to Woods Hole is one of the very few passenger train set ups that would solve so many issues while also being extremely convenient. Direct service to the ferry, high capacity, additional parking (at stations), no traffic, environmentally friendly, decrease CO2 emissions (think less shuttle buses)…the list goes on….

@@SouthCoastRailVideos it’s absolutely bonkers insane that the busiest port in southeastern Massachusetts with 2 million passengers a year has the rails torn out. The bikeways people had a very vocal and nasty state rep on their side and we had no one. The state had to of known the Cape Flyer was in the pipeline.

​@@SouthCoastRailVideosYour hopefor restoration of rail service to Woods Hole is all very commendable but is lacking in the recognition that to achieve all of the benefits you cited you had best realize you better be equiped to meet each ferry departure and arrival. Single rail will never bear the traffic that would have to exist to provide service to New York feasible. When I was a railroad labor representative I had the good fortune to be party to early, very early, discussions about returning train service to Southeastern Massachusetts. At that time it was made perfectly clear to us that it would be a tough row to hoe to enable such a return. It has proved to be so.

Hear, hear!

@@wrjidema there shouldn’t be rails ripped up anywhere anymore. This is 2023 not 1963.

Yep I rather have trains 🚂🚂🚂

Yep, you’re right. That was pro-bike path ,anti-rail state rep Eric Turkington’s famous promise, that if rail returns the bike path could be “simply torn up” and rails put back in.

It will be up to the Massachusetts DOT to eminent domain the path. Use the muscle available to them. Also there is language in the Big Dig enabling that brought the renaissance of commuter service to the Cape. This may well be broadened to include Woods Hole. I had the good fortune to work with former passenger men of the Plymouth Division which included the Cape lines when I hired out. The host of tales they related was beyond books. There were tracks from Greenbush to the old Kingston station. I worked freight to the Hingham Shipyard. Randolph to Easton. I worked freight from Whittenton Junction to Whittenton station to service a mill there. Weir Jct. to Dighton. All sorts of business that bit the bullet.

There is no plan to restore it at this time

@@SouthCoastRailVideos Okay I figured I'd ask hopefully one of these days something good happens keep me updated

At least keep the remaining portion of the Falmouth line intact and run a commuter rail on it. A truncated Falmouth line is better than none at all. One of the major challenges of restoring the whole line is the NIMBYS that have taken root along the right of way who were told by the realtors that "trains would never return" while the MASSDOT's policy was that trains could POSSIBLY return. Therein lies the challenge. How to accomplish that. Extremely difficult granted but not entirely impossible. The thing is to not get too far ahead of ourselves and concentrate on the remaining rail lines on the Cape. Once that service is well-established, then take it from there.

@@albertpisani3792 Yes definitely

Is that ROW that runs through the Hockomock swamp? These people are obnoxious. No rails should be getting torn up anywhere. This is 2023 not 1963.

I saw that trail proposal on the state bike map. I doubt it’ll happen.

who’s gonna tell him the rails have been gone for decades on that line

Rail is still in place from Stoughton into Easton

Thanks for watching!

The sadness rests with the consignees who deserted the previous carriers. When I started my years with the New Haven et al., business was good then it took a dive. Couldnt find any support in the statehouse nor in Washington nor from the businesses we served. The present renaissance in commuter service is only the bastard child of the Big Dig and the court actions that accompanied it. I'd like to discover how much "rent" freight carriers are coughing up for using rows provided by the free infusion of governmental funds.

Thanks for watching! I agree

They need a wall between NH and Mass

I agree!

Thanks for watching!

Yup….

It hasn’t been rescued