The first public Cape Flyer trip had its ups and downs.
Astonishingly, there was no inspection of carry-ons. I would have expected that following the Marathon bombings. On the other hand, I’m guessing one could smuggle in one’s own provisions without detection; not a bad idea, considering that the price of a beer is $7 on the train!
It took far too long to board; normally as soon as the commuter rail trains are in the station, passengers are permitted to board. They kept us waiting interminably on the platform and once we were aboard, they had stupidly shut off the ventilation so it was uncomfortably warm. Not something to look forward to in the summer. The cars did cool off once we were moving, though.
The train crew shooed everyone bound for the Cape into the first three cars: a mistake, since there really aren’t enough seats to accommodate people comfortably. One of the Cape Flyer organizers suggested to me that I could sit wherever I wanted in the future. I would guess that they detach the commuter cars at Middleboro; I’m guessing that was the reason for a long delay there.
Their wifi is better than the bus. The club car provisions are not as good as the commuter boats and pathetic compared to the Steamship Authority ferries.
Imagine a club car with no tables and half the number of possible seats; they emptied half the club car to accommodate bikes, of which there was only one.
The train was late getting in to Buzzards Bay by about half an hour, due to some problems with the track or maybe a switch in Wareham. My door-to-door using the bus to work is about 2 hours. The train trip was over 3, but then again, it was a Friday night before a long weekend.
The great majority of passengers were college-age or people in their twenties, kids whose parents own property here, who were down for the long weekend or who maybe were showing up for summer jobs, not sure. I was flabbergasted by the fact that there were so few commuters.
The club car served alcoholic beverages, but only after Middleboro, and at that point, as you can imagine, there was a rush. Tragedy struck when the purveyors lost their wireless connection and couldn’t process credit cards!
The CCRTA bus that connects with the train in Buzzards Bay was great, though. I appreciated the train as we entered the onramp to the Bourne bridge and saw the line of traffic. Reports were of the usual 5-6 mile backups on route 25.
At South Station, they only sell tickets at the highest price. It’s only a $2 difference, but still, vexing to frugal Cape Codders. That was not an error on the part of the clerk, it’s by design. To get the proper fare, one can buy a ticket on the train or use the MBTA’s online application, which works with various devices, including iPhones and iPads.
Then again, they never collected tickets, so I can either use mine again or keep it as a souvenir!
It was fun to see the greeters at Buzzards Bay station, including some people with balloons and others dressed as sea creatures from the NMLC.
One of the organizers said that they will keep the service if they get an average of 200 or more passengers per trip. Let’s hope.