Salem Street station

Salem Street station

Company type	Commuter rail station
Industry	Transportation
Founded	June 14, 1959 (1959-06-14)
Defunct	June 30, 1967 (1967-06-30)
Headquarters	Wilmington, Massachusetts , United States
Products	Commuter rail service

Salem Street station functioned as a commuter rail stop in Wilmington, Massachusetts from 1959 until its closure in 1967. It was inaugurated by the Boston and Maine Railroad (B&M) as the exclusive station on the Wildcat Branch during a period marked by service reductions and network realignments. Although the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) began subsidizing B&M's commuter operations in 1965, Salem Street station ceased operations two years later.

History

The Wildcat Branch had been in occasional use since 1836, but Salem Street station itself was launched on June 14, 1959, following B&M’s service cutbacks that included discontinuing a segment of the Woburn Loop. The Western Route segment between Reading and Wilmington Junction was terminated, prompting rerouting of Haverhill-bound trains via the Wildcat Branch. In this context, Salem Street took over from North Wilmington station on that line. The facility featured a single low-level platform adjacent to one track, accompanied by a modest parking lot.

When the MBTA started subsidizing B&M commuter services in January 1965, financial support extended only to routes up to Reading and Wilmington; stations outside this funding district, such as Salem Street, needed local financial backing. Due to insufficient local funding, Salem Street station was closed on June 30, 1967, coinciding with B&M’s reduction of most services along the line except for a solitary round trip to Haverhill—a service that itself ended in June 1976.

Upon resumption of Haverhill service under MBTA Commuter Rail in December 1979, trains reverted to the pre-1959 routing through Reading. Consequently, Salem Street and other former Wildcat Branch stops were not reopened. Although additional Haverhill trains and Amtrak’s Downeaster began utilizing the Wildcat Branch starting in 2001, Salem Street station remained out of use.