Falmouth Railroad Station (Massachusetts)

Falmouth

Falmouth Railroad Station in 2011
Location Depot Avenue, Falmouth, Massachusetts
Coordinates 41°33′25″N 70°37′24″W / 41.55694°N 70.62333°W / 41.55694; -70.62333Coordinates: 41°33′25″N 70°37′24″W / 41.55694°N 70.62333°W / 41.55694; -70.62333
Line(s) Old Colony Railroad
Platforms 1 side platform remains
Tracks removed
Construction
Parking Yes
History
Opened 1872
Rebuilt 1912
Services
Preceding station   Cape Cod and Hyannis Railroad   Following station
toward Braintree or Attleboro
Falmouth Branch
Closed 1988
Terminus

Falmouth Railroad Station is a former railroad station and current bus station located on Depot Avenue in Falmouth, Massachusetts. Rail service to the station ended in 1989.

History

Original station

The original station, ca. 1905

The original station in Falmouth was placed in service in 1872 when the Old Colony Railroad inaugurated service on the Woods Hole Branch.[1]

Replacement station

In 1912 the original station was sold to the Swift family who moved it across the tracks. In its place the New Haven Railroad built a replacement brick station, which stands to this day.[1]

Failed passenger service proposals

Passenger service to Falmouth ceased in 1989, when the Cape Cod and Hyannis Railroad truncated its rail service in North Falmouth. That same year, a mini high level platform was built when commuter service was proposed by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in order to ease traffic congestion in the seasonally popular town.[2]

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 new platform in Falmouth that, interestingly, never saw a passenger, resumption of passenger and freight service was promised by the commonwealth. However, pro-rail trail advocates wielded considerable political influence with State Representative Eric Turkington, who passed legislation before leaving office in 2008 that provided funding for the extension of the rail trail to North Falmouth. In June 2008, the line was cut back to North Falmouth and replaced with an extension of the existing bike path.

The former Falmouth railroad station today is used as a bus depot by the Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority and Peter Pan Bus Lines. The rail line that once carried trains to the station has today been converted into bike path which is known as the Shining Sea Bikeway.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Farson, Robert H. (1993). Cape Cod Railroads Including Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket. Joan Hollister Farson (First ed.). Yarmouthport, Massachusetts: Cape Cod Historical Publications. pp. 146–147. ISBN 0-9616740-1-6.
  2. ↑ Ackerman, Jerry (July 5, 1989). "MASS. SPENT $1.2M ON DEPOTS WHERE TRAINS NOW SELDOM GO". Boston Globe – via HighBeam Research. (Subscription required (help)).

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