This story was published as part of a collaboration between Andover News Service and the Department of Journalism in Boston University’s College of Communication. The student journalist is a member of Professor Meghan E. Irons’s Reporting in Depth class.
By Lilly Chapman
The commuter rail train pulled out of North Station at 5:35 p.m. one fall evening, right on time.
The train itself proved to be the opposite of the chaotic nature of the busy city station.
By the time passengers settled into their seats, the atmosphere grew silent. People rested their heads back on their seats, gravity tugging at their eyelids. Older professionals in white button-ups typed on their computers, while students with backpacks popped in their earbuds. The train conductor paced the aisles, checking tickets.
“It can be challenging at times, you get a few bad apples,” said the conductor, Tony D’Ambrosio, who has been working this route for nearly two decades. “But you meet a lot of good people.”
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The 37-minute ride to Andover Station, on the Haverhill Commuter Rail Line, was about to begin.
At 6:12 p.m., the train pulled into Andover Station on Railroad Street, which is one block from Elm Square and the heart of the downtown. Each car emptied into the dark evening.
It felt a bit like a ghost town — and that is one of the reasons town officials are targeting the area for significant improvements, said Paul Materazzo, the director of planning and land use in Andover. Matterazzo said the work can turn the Andover commuter stop into one of the few that invites people to visit the community in which it is located (see related story).
The Haverhill line that travels through Andover consists of 10 stops before reaching Andover Station, including Ballardvale Station in southern Andover. Some trains stop at fewer locations, but the train typically stops in Andover 13 times a day.
Leaving North Station on two afternoons in November, the commuter rail passed the backs of factory buildings and homes in Boston and open fields in Medford.
Advocates of using the commuter rail say the train is an equalizer for people seeking an easy commute between towns like Andover and Boston. It’s a mecca for every kind of person. It had an average weekday ridership of 6,303 individuals in October alone, according to Keolis North America, which operates the commuter rail lines.
Jarred Johnson, travel advocate and executive director of the group Transit Matters, said public transit is one of the few places where people in suits coming from high-power white-collar jobs interact with construction workers, moms, students and low-income residents.
“There’s no first class in a subway car, and I think that’s really important,” he said.
Johnson, whose group advocates for “a car-free” society,” said officials should make public transportation a more competitive option, but that has not always been easy.
In August 2023, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority announced a 58-day closing of the Haverhill Line between Ballardvale in Andover and North Station due to the installation of a federally mandated safety control program that monitors a train’s location and speed. That left many commuters outside of Andover scrambling to use shuttle buses and other ways to get to work or school. They also needed to learn new stations and public-transportation schedules.
“It was a learning curve to know …where the [new] station is located, or what stop I need to get off or, is it going to stop?” said Andrea Bracho, a North Andover resident who commutes to Boston once a week for her job in data entry.
Despite such challenges, many passengers say the commuter rail reduces the stress of travel and is still the best commuting option for them.
“I feel bad for people who have to drive… especially in the city,’’ said Lisa Arsenault, 59, who takes the Downeaster commuter rail to commute from her home in Maine.
“Can you imagine all these people on the road?’’ she added.