Massachusetts legislation · 194th General Court
Massachusetts H5277: An Act relative to restoring commuter rail to Cape Cod
Status: In committee, March 25, 2026
What the bill says
From the introduced text, March 25, 2026:
SECTION 1. (a) Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, in collaboration with the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, hereinafter referred to as MBTA, shall conduct a feasibility study, hereinafter referred to as the study, relative to establishing year-round, daily rail service between the towns of Falmouth, Bourne, Barnstable, Yarmouth and Sandwich and the city of Boston via the Cape Cod line, Hyannis Branch line and the Woods Hole Branch line. The study shall be undertaken in consultation and collaboration, to the maximum extent possible, with the New England District of the United States Army Corps of Engineers, and shall seek to complement and improve upon the Cape Rail Study of 2021. (b) The study shall examine and evaluate the costs and opportunities related to providing year-round, daily rail service between the towns of Falmouth, Bourne, Barnstable, Yarmouth and Sandwich and the city of Boston including, but not limited to: (i) the projected capital costs including the costs to upgrade the lines, signal systems, and stations for commuter rail including specific costs to upgrade tracks to each town with existing rail lines and costs to upgrade each station on Cape Cod; (ii) the development of an operating and maintenance plan for commuter rail access to Cape Cod towns; (iii) the prospect of operating high-speed …
Sponsors
- Transportation, Joint Committee on (I) · primary sponsor
- Kip Diggs (D, 2nd Barnstable)
- Thomas Moakley (D)
- Steven Xiarhos (R, 5th Barnstable)
- Tommy Vitolo (D, 15th Norfolk)
- Hadley Luddy (D)
- Adam Scanlon (D, 14th Bristol)
- Patrick Kearney (D, 4th Plymouth)
- Christopher Flanagan (D)
- Lisa Field (D, 3rd Bristol)
- James Arena-DeRosa (D)
- Tara Hong (D)
Latest actions
- : Bill reported favorably by committee and referred to the committee on House Ways and Means
- : New draft of H3654
- : Reported from the committee on Transportation
Votes
- Committee Vote - Joint Committee on Transportation (March 18, 2026): 11 yea, 0 nay, passed
Common questions
- What is H5277?
- H5277 is a bill in the Massachusetts Legislature (194th General Court): An Act relative to restoring commuter rail to Cape Cod.
- What is the status of H5277?
- In committee as of March 25, 2026. Latest action: Bill reported favorably by committee and referred to the committee on House Ways and Means (March 25, 2026).
- Who sponsored H5277?
- Transportation, Joint Committee on (I), with 11 co-sponsors.
- Where is the official record for H5277?
- On the Massachusetts Legislature website: https://malegislature.gov/Bills/194/H5277
Source: official Massachusetts record. Tracked by Delilah, AI for legislation across all 50 states and Congress.