Haverhill Line

HAVERHILL LINE
Haverhill is the current northern terminus of the line
Overview
Type	Commuter rail
System	MBTA Commuter Rail
Locale	Northeastern Massachusetts
Termini	Haverhill North Station
Stations	14
Daily ridership	8,843 Daily Weekday (2014) 1,282 Saturday (2014) 1,785 Sunday (2014)
Operation
Owner	Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
Operator(s)	Keolis North America
Character	Elevated and surface-level
Technical
Line length	33 mi (53.2 km)
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Route map Amtrak Downeaster continues Haverhill Merrimack River Bradford Bradford Yard North Andover closed 1974 Lawrence Shawsheen closed 1980 Andover Ballardvale Wildcat Branch North Wilmington Salem Street closed 1967 Reading Lowell Line Wakefield Wilmington Wakefield Junction closed 1965 Anderson/Woburn Greenwood Mishawum Lowell Line only Melrose Highlands Lechmere Warehouse closed 1996 • Lowell Line only Melrose/Cedar Park Woburn Branch closed 1981 Wyoming Hill Winchester Center Oak Grove ( service dis- ruptions only ) Wedgemere Malden Center West Medford Newburyport/Rockport Line Boston Engine Terminal MBTA employees only Fitchburg Line Charles River Bridge North Station This diagram:

8,843 Daily Weekday (2014)
1,282 Saturday (2014)

The Haverhill Line (formerly named the Haverhill/Reading Line) is a branch of the MBTA Commuter Rail system, running north from downtown Boston, Massachusetts through the cities and towns of Malden, Melrose, Wakefield, Reading, Wilmington, Andover, North Andover, Lawrence, and Haverhill.

A station stop also exists at Oak Grove in Malden, but this stop is only used when Orange Line rapid transit service is disrupted.

Until 1959, the Boston and Maine Railroad operated commuter service along its Western Route from Haverhill and Reading to Boston. In 1959 the section from Reading to Wilmington Junction became freight-only, and Haverhill commuter trains as well as intercity service from New Hampshire and Maine were rerouted over the Wildcat Branch and the lower Lowell Line. Salem Street stop on the Wildcat Branch opened to replace North Wilmington on the mainline. The MBTA was formed in August 1964 to consolidate and fund Boston's transit system. In December 1964 the MBTA signed a contract to subsidize B&M commuter service within the MBTA funding district. On January 4, the B&M discontinued most interstate service, with a single round trip to Dover, NH the only such service remaining on the Western Route. On January 18, the B&M cut back commuter service to the MBTA-subsidized area; the Dover trip was the only service beyond Wilmington, through in-district Reading local service continued. The Wakefield Junction stop on the Reading Line was discontinued at this time.