SALEM, Mass. — The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority and its contract commuter rail operator, Keolis, have added additional commuter rail service between Boston’s North Station and Salem, Mass., and between Salem, Beverly, and Newburyport, for the final two weekends of Salem’s Haunted Happenings event.
“With historic crowds visiting Salem this Halloween season, we’re pleased to offer additional weekend commuter rail service,” MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak said in a press release. “… We thank our partners at Keolis for their collaboration in offering this service.”
An updated schedule is available here.
The move came after Salem Mayor Kim Driscoll recently urged visitors to take the train, because the city was overwhelmed by traffic and no parking spaces were available. Nearly 80,000 people visited Salem on a single Saturday earlier this month.
Movies like “The Blair Witch Project” and others has made Salem a Mecca for those searching for a hauntingly good time during the Halloween holiday. I was reading an article on the National Geographic (paywall) site recently about how many tourists are now visiting Salem each year and it has only been increasing every year.
I was unaware that Salem has become a Halloween theme park. Wasn’t that way when I grew up in the Bay State. Back then Salem “witches” were historic figures, not plastic Halloween props.