North Shore Commuter Rail Changes Coming Jan. 23

BEVERLY, MA — The new commuter rail schedule for the Rockport line, which includes at least a temporary suspension of late-night weekday service and some additional regular train service to fill gaps in general coverage, will go into effect on Jan. 23.

The MBTA said the modified cutbacks adopted by the MBTA's Fiscal and Management Control Board will maintain about 50 percent of overall service it has had during a coronavirus health crisis when it said ridership has been about 10 percent capacity.

The new schedules will be released on Friday and will be posted at stations starting on Jan. 18. The commuter rail is currently in a reduced holiday schedule because of staff coronavirus positive cases and quarantine protocols, which will remain in effect through Jan. 22.

The MBTA said the Newburyport/Rockport, Framingham/Worcester, Fairmount, Providence and Middleborough lines are the only ones that will operate weekend service since those lines experienced more ridership gains over the last few months and serve "transit-critical communities."

The MBTA said the new schedule includes additional trains on the Middleborough, Fairmount and Newburyport/Rockport lines to help fill in service gaps that existed in the previous schedule and "help to offer more consistent train intervals, such as clockface service, which makes riding simpler for passengers."

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(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)

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