New CapeFlyer platform coming to Wareham

Nov 20, 2013

Wareham watched the CapeFlyer pass it by last summer, but by the summer of 2014 Wareham residents will have a stop to call their own.

According to selectman Chair Peter Teitelbaum, a representative from the Mass. Department of Transportation came to Wareham recently to scout a location for a train platform.

"The state official was down to look for a location for the CapeFlyer," train stop in Wareham he said.

The platform will be located behind the old Getty gas station. It will be 300 feet long, stretching from the fire station on Main Street north toward the area where Wareham Feed once stood. It will also be four feet tall and handicap accessible.

The site will also be home to a GATRA bus stop. Potential routes include one from Wareham to the Middleboro/Lakeville commuter rail, and one to New Bedford.

Next up, engineers will evaluate the site.

Teitelbaum thanked Governor Deval Patrick and Rep. Susan Williams-Gifford for their contributions to making a stop in Wareham a reality, and he gave a special thanks to fellow selectman Alan Slavin.

"Going forward with this we need to thank selectman Alan Slavin," who was absent from Tuesday's meeting, Teitelbaum said. "He has spent years cultivating relationships," with people across the state to get a stop in Wareham. He joked that it ought to be called "Slavin Station."

The CapeFlyer did runs between Boston and Hyannis  from May 24 through Columbus Day, and the closest stop was in Buzzards Bay. It is not yet clear what the schedule will be for this year.

Last summer the Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority, Mass. Bay Transportation Authority, and Mass. Department of Transportation, cleared brush away from the tracks to allow for greater visibility.

Railroad operators have federal rights that allow them to legally bypass local towns' conservation regulations when it's an issue of safety.

In addition to that, the tracks in Wareham were upgraded to hold up to the 55 mph speeds the trains can travel at, although they slow down while traveling through certain areas.