Alrighty, next stop on the Haverhill Line is Wakefield. Wakefield, Wakefield…..yeah, I don’t have much to remark in the opening paragraph.
So, once again, I wrote this during the Haverhill shutdown, so shuttles were running. Sorry, no foamer shots! However, Wakefield DOES have some charm to it. For one, you have storefronts lining the inbound platform, so if you wanted to buy something or get food before the train arrives, it’s quite easily doable. The station house nowadays has a barber shop as well, along with a real estate agency. Neat! On the other street are a variety of shops, including a couple of restaurants, interior design centers, and even a Dunkies!!! Yay! As for the station itself, there isn’t too much to remark about it. You have a sheltered area on the inbound side, some benches and wastebaskets, and a red dot matrix sign on the inbound side as well. It’s also all low-level, so fuck you if you need accessibility. There’s also no horns here. Bleugh.
The good: It’s in the town center (almost), has some charm to it, has the usual amenities, and even storefronts lining each platform! Neat! Furthermore, the 137 also stops here. However…
The bad: It’s inaccessible. AND the 137 only stops here one way. Ugh. Lastly, why is there no shelter outbound? Do reverse commuters to Haverhill or Reading just not exist? Furthermore, accessibility would be HARD because of said storefront. Just elevate it instead.
Nearby points of interest: The storefront lining the tracks look interesting. Route 129, which I haven’t checked out beyond street view imagery, is nearby with the town center as well!
Transit connections:
Commuter Rail (Haverhill)
MBTA bus (137, towards Malden only)
Overall, just grade separate it! Just, please! Keep the storefront, but build a viaduct with a common area underneath! It’s not gonna look pretty, but sometimes you gotta do heinous stuff for accessibility!
Rating: 4.5/10
