Beverly Depot
| Company type | Commuter rail station |
|---|---|
| Industry | Transportation |
| Founded | 1897 |
| Headquarters | Beverly, Massachusetts , United States |
| Products | Commuter rail service |
Beverly Depot is a commuter rail station operated by the MBTA Commuter Rail system, situated in downtown Beverly, Massachusetts. It serves the Newburyport/Rockport Line and functions as the divergence point for the line’s branches to Newburyport and Rockport, with every train on both routes making a stop here.
The Eastern Railroad reached Beverly en route to Ipswich in 1839. The initial station was replaced in 1855 and then again in 1897 with a structure designed by Bradford Lee Gilbert. Since 1979, the station has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places and forms part of the Beverly Depot-Odell Park Historic District, designated in 2014. Additionally, a parking garage accommodating 500 vehicles was inaugurated on August 2, 2014.
History
The Eastern Railroad extended its line from Salem to Ipswich through Beverly on December 18, 1839. This construction involved creating a cut approximately long through a ridge near School Street. The original Beverly station, a modest wooden structure, was located at the northern extremity of the Essex Bridge in the southernmost area of town. The Gloucester Branch was inaugurated from Beverly to Manchester on August 3, 1847, later extending to Gloucester by December 1.
As Gloucester’s population expanded, development progressed along Cabot Street, and Rantoul Street was established parallel to the Eastern Railroad in 1851. It is possible that the original depot was relocated near Rantoul Street around 1852. The replacement built in 1855 was a larger wooden edifice featuring a train shed at what is now the existing site. In 1890, local residents commissioned landscape architect Charles Eliot to enhance the station’s surroundings; these improvements were privately financed after the railroad declined to contribute beyond providing labor and materials. The train shed was dismantled to accommodate the construction of the current station designed by Bradford Lee Gilbert in 1897, which later served as an architectural prototype for a similar building erected at Andover ten years afterward.
By the mid-20th century, ridership had significantly decreased; consequently, the ticket office ceased operations in 1965 when the newly established MBTA began subsidizing service. By 1968, the historic building had been sold and repurposed as an antique shop. Following a partial fire in February 1971, renovations were undertaken, and it reopened as a restaurant by December that same year. The building earned its place on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.
Today’s amenities include two platforms alongside two tracks adjacent to the historic depot. Accessibility is ensured by short high-level platform sections positioned at the outbound ends of longer low-level platforms.
On November 16, 1984, a fire destroyed the Beverly Bridge connecting Salem and Beverly. For over a year afterward, Beverly functioned as a transfer hub between shuttle buses and trains until service resumed with a new bridge opening on December 1, 1985.
Garage
In April 2007, plans were announced by the MBTA to expand parking facilities and replace mini-high platforms, with a parking garage planned subsequently. Governor Deval Patrick confirmed these intentions in June 2008. By June 2009, the MBTA had chosen a site one block south of the station for construction. As part of environmental mitigation related to the Big Dig, Massachusetts was required to add 1,000 parking spaces at MBTA stations by 2011. Garages at Salem and Beverly were intended to fulfill this mandate; however, delays caused additional parking expansions elsewhere.
On September 15, 2012, $25 million was approved by the MBTA for building a three-story garage with a capacity for 500 vehicles—quintupling previous parking availability—and featuring electric vehicle charging stations, rooftop solar panels, and a covered walkway connecting it to station platforms. The design anticipated future transit oriented development along adjacent Rantoul Street and potential air rights development up to four stories high.
Construction commenced in February 2013 but faced several postponements due to challenges such as reinforcing retaining walls, cold weather affecting concrete curing, and difficulties disposing of contaminated soil. The City of Beverly contributed $500,000 toward increased expenses. The garage officially opened on August 2, 2014. Initial utilization was modest, with only about 100 vehicles per day after four weeks; by September 2015 weekday usage averaged approximately 260 cars. On April 3, 2017, an oversized load caused damage to the pedestrian bridge linking the garage with the station.
In 2017, a private developer paid $821,400 to lease development rights from the MBTA at this garage site. Subsequently, between 2018 and 2019, a mixed-use project comprising 67 residential units alongside ground-floor commercial space was completed adjacent to the garage. The developer leases seventy parking spaces from the MBTA and proposed in February 2023 an additional three-story residential building containing seventy units atop the garage structure.
Enhancements to Accessibility
Efforts to improve accessible mini-high platform designs commenced in 2021. By 2023, the existing platforms were considered beyond repair, leading the MBTA to initiate a pilot project featuring a standalone temporary accessible platform at this location. Should this approach prove effective, it will be implemented as a provisional measure at additional stations. Construction of these experimental platforms began in March 2024 and reached completion by midyear.