[14] The relatively slow running time is due to the track conditions between Buzzards Bay and Hyannis, which limits the speed of passenger trains on the Cape to 30 miles per hour.

[13] Extensive track rehabilitation was completed in early 2013, resulting in faster operating speeds between Middleborough and Buzzards Bay.

[24] The bridge over the Neponset River between Dorchester and Quincy burned soon after, preventing the quick return of service on the Old Colony Main Line.

Riding from Boston generally required a change of trains in either Attleboro or Providence, though a Boston-Hyannis trip ran via Stoughton and Taunton briefly in mid-1961.

[29] A trial passenger train between Hyannis, Buzzards Bay and Falmouth, was operated for a week in the summer of 1979 after trackage was rehabilitated.

The Cape Cod & Hyannis Railroad ceased operation in February 1989 when the Massachusetts Executive Office of Transportation and Construction suspended the subsidy for the 1989 season due to the state's fiscal crisis.

Traveling between Boston and Cape Cod required transferring to Providence/Stoughton Line or Regional service at Providence.

[12] Initial plans called for full service as far as Buzzards Bay, but the final route was scaled back due to high costs and uncertain ridership.

In 2007, a Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization report analyzed the possibility of an extension to Buzzards Bay.

[12] However, neither service ventured north of Buzzards Bay and occasionally Wareham, making them largely useless for those traveling to the Cape from outside areas.

In early 2011 the CCRTA awarded a contract to the Transportation Planning and Resource Group, a consulting firm, to study the "obstacles, impediments and funding issues associated with reviving passenger rail service to Cape Cod.

[35] In late 2012 the CCRTA announced that a decision had been made to restore passenger service between Boston South Station and Cape Cod starting Memorial Day weekend 2013.

[36] The Patrick-Murray administration made the announcement official on April 2, 2013 at a press conference at South Station in Boston.

The CapeFLYER's inaugural journey departed South Station at 5:12 p.m. on Friday, May 24, 2013, with about 200 passengers destined for Buzzards Bay and Hyannis.

During its first year of service, the train only made stops at South Station, Braintree, Middleborough/Lakeville, Buzzards Bay, and Hyannis.

[48] The CapeFLYER does not currently stop at the Cape Cod Central Railroad stations in Sandwich or West Barnstable in an effort to get the train to Hyannis in a reasonable amount of time.

[49] A new first-class car was implemented during the 2021 season, featuring reclining leather seats with footrests, as well as a seat-side food and beverage services, for a $10 surcharge.

[51] Less than a week after the service launched Thomas Cahir, the Administrator of the CCRTA, announced that the CapeFLYER would stop at the station in Wareham starting in 2014.

The new track work, and associated switches and signals, would facilitate multiple train moves during a single bridge drop.

[56] In February 2015, it was announced that the opening of the station would be delayed one year, due to the amount of snow received during the winter and local unease over the project.

[59] The Buzzards Bay town selectmen similarly supported the idea later that year, and a public forum was held in January 2014.

[62] A Local Impact Report released in April 2015 proposed an 800 foot (240 m) high-level platform and two parking alternatives: a 120-space modification of the existing lot, and a 400-to-600-space structure including a realignment of Academy Drive.

[62] Bourne voted to join the MBTA district in 2015 and began paying an assessment in mid 2016 (for FY 2017), although there was no guarantee that commuter rail service would be provided in the fiscally constrained environment.

[67] In September 2023, State Representative Dylan Fernandes introduced a bill which would require at least three weekday round trips per day between Boston and Buzzards Bay within twelve months, and order a feasibility study for further extensions to Falmouth, Bourne, Barnstable, Yarmouth, and Sandwich.