| Falmouth Train Station | ||
|---|---|---|
| Station statistics | ||
| Address | Depot Avenue, Falmouth, Massachusetts | |
| Lines | Old Colony Railroad | |
| Platforms | Yes | |
| Parking | Yes | |
| Bicycle facilities | Yes | |
| Other information | ||
| Opened | 1872 | |
| Rebuilt | 1912 | |
| Traffic | ||
| Passengers () | 0 | |
| Services | ||
| bus station, rail trail
|
||
Falmouth Train Station is located on Depot Avenue in Falmouth, Massachusetts. It was renovated in 1989 in anticipation of commuter rail service being extended to Falmouth.
Contents |
Freight service to Falmouth ceased in 1989, when the Cape Cod and Hyannis Railroad truncated rail service back to North Falmouth. That same year, a new station was built when commuter service was proposed by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in order to ease traffic congestion in the seasonally popular town. At the time, the remainder of the rail line between Falmouth and Woods Hole had been converted to the Shining Sea Bikeway, so Falmouth remained the proposed terminus.[1]
Falmouth rail service remained a hotly debated topic for nearly two decades, as the housing boom of the 1990s and 2000s took hold. With a brand new station in Falmouth (that, interestingly, never saw a single passenger) waiting in the wings, resumption of passenger and freight service seemed to be on the horizon. However, though pro-rail advocates protested, citing high gasoline prices, the pro-rail trail advocates had the ear of local government officials.[2] In June 2008, the railway between Falmouth and North Falmouth (a distance of eight miles) was officially abandoned, and the tracks were removed shortly thereafter[3], as the Shining Sea was completed early the following year, ending another attempt toward train service below North Falmouth at this stage, yet there is speculation from some that the railroad could perhaps be rebuilt if gasoline prices do become a real problem.
The current Falmouth train station still stands. The station platform currently serves as a bus depot for Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority passengers. It also has a high level platform which is the first one on the Bourne-Falmouth rail line, though it has been closed for quite some time. The station will eventually host cyclists in the summer of 2009.[2]