North Wilmington (MBTA)

Welcome to the Haverhill Line’s least-used station. So, what does this station have? Well……ugh….

First off, North Wilmington is a flag stop on the Haverhill Line, just beyond Reading, but also before the Wildcat junction. This means if the line is bustituted, it’s in a limbo area where there’s no service. This is ironic, given there’s GTFS data for shuttle stops here. Or, there was, until recently. Moving on to the station itself, what’s unique about it? Well, a lot. And, not in a good way.

This is the only station where regular service requires use of boarding/alighting EXCLUSIVELY from the rear car. YES, I REPEAT, YOU HAVE TO BOARD/ALIGHT FROM THE REARMOST CAR OF THE TRAIN HERE. This is the only station I can think of where this is regular. I mean, I’ve seen it happen on the Fairmount Line too, but that’s offpeak-only! Not all-day! The station is also very inaccessible. Allegedly there were plans to install a mini-high here (or, convert it to one akin to Lynnterim), but that’s gone nowhere to my awareness. There’s also largely nothing around here. Boo. Yeah, this sucks. D: But, there is one saving grace: if the Lowell Line is being worked on (as was the case with Winchester Center) and Amtrak can’t use it, the Downeaster runs down here to reach Haverhill, rather than using the Wildcat Branch and Woburn Station. It also begets a nice (if desolate) railfanning spot.

The good: …transit-accessible RMV?

The bad: The station’s existence. Why does it exist? Just freakin’ use Wilmington. Granted, it’s useless if you want to get to Haverhill (assuming no schedule changes) or Malden, but if you’re going to Boston then it’s a hell of a lot better. Furthermore, trains are more frequent! Also, why the hell did they go through the trouble of INSTALLING A NEW STATION SIGN?! JUST- AAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!!!! FHIDOASHFIDOPSAHFDIOPAH

Nearby points of interest: Just the RMV, maybe Dunkies.

Transit connections:
Commuter Rail (Haverhill)

Overall….yk what, yeah, this shithole of a station DESERVES to be shuttered. I genuinely have nothing good to say about it. BANISH TO THE UNDERWORLD! If depression had a Commuter Rail station, this is it.

Rating: 0.5/10