Newburyport/Rockport Line

Commuter rail service in Massachusetts, US

The Newburyport/Rockport Line is a branch of the MBTA Commuter Rail system, running northeast from downtown Boston, Massachusetts towards Cape Ann and the Merrimack Valley, serving the North Shore. The first leg, operating via the Eastern Route of the former Boston and Maine Railroad, serves Chelsea, Lynn, Swampscott, Salem, and Beverly. From there, a northern branch continues via the Eastern Route to serve Hamilton, Ipswich, Rowley, and Newburyport, while other trains operate east from Beverly via the Gloucester Branch, serving Manchester, Gloucester, and Rockport. A bicycle coach is offered on the Rockport branch during the summer. With over 11,000 daily riders in October 2022, the line is the second busiest on the system.

The Eastern Route main line between Boston and Portsmouth, New Hampshire opened in 1836 as the Eastern Railroad. Ferries were used to transport passengers between the East Boston terminal and Boston proper. The line was extended to Portland, Maine, in 1842 under a track sharing agreement with the Boston and Maine Railroad. The Gloucester Branch was constructed in 1847, but despite local support, it was not extended to Rockport until November 1861. In 1854, with the opening of the Grand Junction Railroad, the Eastern Railroad acquired direct access to downtown Boston. Branch line service declined heavily in the 1950s, with the single Salem–Marblehead round trip gone by 1957. Massive service cuts on May 18, 1958, ended all Saugus and Danvers branch service, closed all stations south of Lynn, and halved Marblehead service. A second collision in Revere later that morning injured 143 people – some of whom had already been in the Swampscott wreck. On December 27, 1966, an outbound Budd RDC struck an oil tanker truck at Second Street in Everett, killing 13 people.

In the 1960s, the B&M's passenger services which, by that time, were almost exclusively commuter services began to become financially unviable until the MBTA subsidized, and then acquired, the services. The line beyond Newburyport was abandoned in 1982; however, commuter service had been cut back from Newburyport to Ipswich in 1976. In the late 1980s, the MBTA planned to construct a park and ride relief station off Route 107 in Saugus. A $400,000 planning study was funded in February 1988; the proposed $11 million station would have had 1,000 parking spaces and opened in late 1991. The station was not built; instead, a high level platform and parking garage opened at in January 1992. In July 2019, Wynn Resorts proposed a combination commuter rail and Silver Line station in Everett to serve the newly owned Encore Boston Harbor casino and proposed surrounding development.

Owing to its position along the North Shore coastline, the Newburyport/Rockport Line has a large number of river crossings, including movable bridges over the Saugus River and Danvers River on the mainline as well as Days Creek and the Annisquam River on the Rockport Branch. Draw Number 7 over the Mystic River between Somerville and Everett, built in 1877, was the oldest horizontally folding drawbridge in the country until it was replaced by a fixed high level concrete span on August 26, 1989. The new $34.2 million bridge, which was completed nine months ahead of schedule, eliminated the speed restriction on the old bridge. The Beverly Drawbridge spanning the Danvers River was replaced in 2017. The abutments of the approach spans were repaired, followed by a 21 day service shutdown from July 17 to August 13, 2017, for the complete replacement of the swing bridge section. The line was shut down on weekends from July 8 through August 27, 2017, for the installation of Positive Train Control equipment in order to meet a 2020 federal deadline; four of those weekends overlapped with the already planned service curtailments for drawbridge work. By February 2016, bidding was planned to begin by June for the four year, then $34 million project, though funding had not been allotted. The MBTA Board approved a $56.9 million contract in October 2017; funding is split between federal and state funds. The 44 month project was to require 10 weekend shutdowns of the branch. All service between West Gloucester and Rockport was replaced by buses from June 1 to 30, 2019 to allow for construction. On April 29, 2020, service between West Gloucester and Rockport was indefinitely replaced by buses due to a failure of the old bridge. That June, the MBTA indicated the closure would continue until the completion of the bridge replacement in mid 2021. In October 2020, weekend service was modified with the outbound bus connection at Manchester, so that trains could idle between the two stations. Portions of the line are being replaced by buses in several phases from April 11 to June 5, 2022, to allow for several construction projects including the completion of the drawbridge. Regular service to Rockport over the bridge resumed on May 23, 2022. Work on the bridge was completed in December 2022. The MBTA plans to replace the Saugus River drawbridge in the mid to late 2020s.

Substantially reduced schedules due to the COVID 19 pandemic were in effect from March 16 to June 23, 2020. The final Newburyport bound train on weekdays began operating as a shuttle from Salem, with a transfer from a Rockport bound train. In November 2020, as part of service cuts during the pandemic, the MBTA proposed to close along with five other low ridership stations on other lines. On December 14, the MBTA Board voted to enact a more limited set of cuts, including indefinitely closing Prides Crossing and four of the other five stations. That day, temporary reduced schedules were again put into place, with Prides Crossing not served. Full service resumed on April 5, 2021, with Prides Crossing still closed. as of February 2022, weekday service had 12 Boston–West Gloucester round trips, 13 Boston–Newburyport round trips, three Boston–Beverly round trips, and one Salem–Newburyport outbound trip. Weekend service had nine round trips on each branch, with no short turns. A series of partial and complete closures of the line took place from March 5 to June 12, 2022, to allow for signal construction work. Several shorter closures took place in July through September. By October 2022, the line had 11,333 daily riders – 76% of pre COVID ridership.

In February 2001, the MBTA began two parallel planning processes for the North Shore region: a Draft Environment Impact Statement for the Blue Line Extension (DEIS), and a Major Investment Study (MIS) for other projects primarily north of Salem. The MIS, released in 2004, identified a number of possible improvements to the Newburyport/Rockport Line, including upgrades to current stations, grade crossing eliminations, signal system improvements, increased frequencies, a second Salem tunnel, a branch line to Danvers, and new stations at Revere and South Salem. A South Salem station would serve Salem State University, the North Shore Medical Center, and residential areas south of downtown Salem some of which were served by the pre 1987 station, but only by the and 459 buses thereafter. The station was estimated to cost $12.2 to $13.8 million, with a single island platform serving the line's two tracks, and would draw about 600 daily riders. None of the projects in the DEIS or MIS was actually built due to lack of funding, except for parking structures at Salem and Beverly which were mandated as Big Dig mitigation. In January 2015, Salem mayor Kim Driscoll indicated her support for a South Salem station in her State of the City address. A feasibility study, released in March 2016, analyzed four possible station locations, including three sites near the MIS locations plus one at Jefferson Avenue to the south. The station would have two side platforms and cost between $15 million and $20 million depending on the site. The study received mixed reactions from Salem residents, including concerns about construction, lights, and trains idling near a residential area but also hope for improved transit accessibility and higher property values. as of November 2016, a site off Canal Street near Lauren Street was considered the preferred alternative. Part or all of an adjacent industrial property could be purchased to provide pedestrian access and possibly a small parking lot on the west side of the tracks, improving access to the nearby North Shore Medical Center.

As the MBTA plans to transition to a regional rail model with more frequent service, the Newburyport/Rockport Line is a priority for electrification because it serves environmental justice communities. In April 2021, the MBTA indicated plans to electrify the line between Boston and Beverly Depot. Studies for facility needs and traction power were noted as being funded, while design and planning for required infrastructure changes were not. In June 2022, the MBTA indicated plans to begin service with battery electric multiple units on the line in 2031. The section from Chelsea to Hamilton/Wenham and Manchester (save for the Salem Tunnel) would have overhead wires. A light maintenance facility would be constructed near Salem. Improvements to a turnback track near Beverly, allowing more frequent diesel service in the interim, are planned to be completed in late 2022.