Massachusetts 2025-2026 Regular Session

Massachusetts House Bill H3654 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	1 of 1
2	2	HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 898 FILED ON: 1/13/2025
3	3	HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 3654
4	4	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
5	5	_________________
6	6	PRESENTED BY:
7	7	Kip A. Diggs and Thomas W. Moakley
8	8	_________________
9	9	To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
10	10	Court assembled:
11	11	The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
12	12	An Act relative to restoring commuter rail to Cape Cod.
13	13	_______________
14	14	PETITION OF:
15	15	NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Kip A. Diggs2nd Barnstable1/13/2025Thomas W. MoakleyBarnstable, Dukes and Nantucket1/13/2025 1 of 3
16	16	HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 898 FILED ON: 1/13/2025
17	17	HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 3654
18	18	By Representatives Diggs of Barnstable and Moakley of Falmouth, a petition (accompanied by
19	19	bill, House, No. 3654) of Kip A. Diggs and Thomas W. Moakley relative to establishing year-
20	20	round daily commuter rail service to Cape Cod. Transportation.
21	21	[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
22	22	SEE HOUSE, NO. 4118 OF 2023-2024.]
23	23	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
24	24	_______________
25	25	In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
26	26	(2025-2026)
27	27	_______________
28	28	An Act relative to restoring commuter rail to Cape Cod.
29	29	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
30	30	of the same, as follows:
31	31	1 SECTION 1. (a) Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the
32	32	2Massachusetts Department of Transportation, in collaboration with the Massachusetts Bay
33	33	3Transportation Authority, hereinafter referred to as MBTA, shall conduct a feasibility study,
34	34	4hereinafter referred to as the study, relative to establishing year-round, daily rail service between
35	35	5the towns of Falmouth, Bourne, Barnstable, Yarmouth and Sandwich and the city of Boston via
36	36	6the Cape Cod line, Hyannis Branch line and the Woods Hole Branch line. The study shall be
37	37	7undertaken in consultation and collaboration, to the maximum extent possible, with the New
38	38	8England District of the United States Army Corps of Engineers, and shall seek to complement
39	39	9and improve upon the Cape Rail Study of 2021. 2 of 3
40	40	10 (b) The study shall examine and evaluate the costs and opportunities related to providing
41	41	11year-round, daily rail service between the towns of Falmouth, Bourne, Barnstable, Yarmouth and
42	42	12Sandwich and the city of Boston including, but not limited to:
43	43	13 (i) the projected capital costs including the costs to upgrade the lines, signal systems, and
44	44	14stations for commuter rail including specific costs to upgrade tracks to each town with existing
45	45	15rail lines and costs to upgrade each station on Cape Cod;
46	46	16 (ii) the development of an operating and maintenance plan for commuter rail access to
47	47	17Cape Cod towns;
48	48	18 (iii) the prospect of operating high-speed rail service on existing rights of way and other
49	49	19operational issues including necessary upgrades to infrastructure;
50	50	20 (iv) the environmental and community impact estimates, especially on environmental
51	51	21justice populations as defined in section 62 of chapter 30 of the General Laws;
52	52	22 (v) the availability of federal, state, local and private sector funding sources including
53	53	23capital investments and ongoing operations and maintenance funding;
54	54	24 (vi) first and last mile connections within the Cape Cod rail system including Cape only
55	55	25train routes;
56	56	26 (vii) specific costs of infrastructure upgrades necessary at Middleboro and other MBTA
57	57	27stations to accommodate direct commuter rail access from Buzzards Bay to Boston;
58	58	28 (viii) any other effects deemed necessary by the MBTA in order to ensure a complete
59	59	29report on the funding necessary to upgrade infrastructure for commuter rail access for Cape and
60	60	30Island residents. 3 of 3
61	61	31 (c) The study shall determine all necessary steps the commonwealth must take to best
62	62	32position itself for any available or potential federal funding. Further, the study shall consider the
63	63	33commuting patterns of residents within the service area when considering potential rail
64	64	34schedules.
65	65	35 (d) The study shall determine the feasibility, benefits, opportunities and costs of assuming
66	66	36ownership of the Cape Cod Canal Railroad Bridge from the United States Army Corps of
67	67	37Engineers. The study shall also determine the feasibility, benefits, opportunities and costs of
68	68	38replacing the Cape Cod Canal Railroad Bridge with a stationary bridge.
69	69	39 (e) The Massachusetts Department of Transportation shall file a report on the findings
70	70	40and determinations of the study with the clerks of the house and senate, the chairs of the house
71	71	41and senate committees on ways and means and the house and senate chairs of the joint
72	72	42committee on transportation not later than 9 months after the effective date of this act.
73	73	43 SECTION 2. Not later than 12 months after the effective date of this act, the MBTA shall
74	74	44begin commuter passenger train service between Buzzards Bay station and South station via the
75	75	45Cape Cod line. Train service shall occur year-round and, insofar as is feasible as determined by
76	76	46the MBTA, schedules shall be aligned with the commuting patterns of the service areas. The
77	77	47MBTA shall operate not less than 3 AM Peak trips and 3 PM Peak trips on this route each
78	78	48weekday.