Salem (MBTA station)

Salem is a regional rail station on the MBTA Commuter Rail Newburyport/Rockport Line, located off Bridge Street near the intersection of Massachusetts Route 107 and Route 114 in downtown Salem, Massachusetts. Salem station consists of one platform which serves a single track. A staircase provides access to the platform from Route 107. Immediately south of the station, the train tracks enter the Salem Tunnel, which carries trains underneath Washington Street in Salem. A $44.5 million garage with 715 spaces, along with a full-length high-level platform for speedier boarding, opened on October 24, 2014.According to an April 2016 ridership count, Salem is the busiest commuter rail station in the MBTA system outside of the central Boston stations, with an average of 2,389 daily inbound boardings.HistoryAfter the railroads from Boston to Lowell, Worcester, and Providence were chartered in 1830 and 1831, railroads to other surrounding cities including Newburyport and Portsmouth were proposed.The Eastern Railroad was chartered on April 14, 1836. Work began at East Boston in late 1836; construction was slowed by the Panic of 1837 and did not reach Salem until 1838.Service from Salem to East Boston began on August 27, 1838, with fares half that of competing stagecoaches. A wooden train shed was built at Salem; since it was not certain whether the line would be extended, the shed was closed at the north end. Passenger accommodations were initially limited to a ticket office and waiting room in a nearby warehouse. A wooden station similar to those at Lynn and East Boston was soon constructed near Norman Street, with bells imported from Spanish churches. The two-story station had three pairs of columns mimicking a Greek temple, a common style for the earliest stations in the northeast United States. Within days of opening, the line was already seeing commuter traffic from Salem, and it has been a heavily used commuter stop since.