The Newburyport/Rockport Line is a branch of the MBTA Commuter Rail system, running northeast from downtown Boston, Massachusetts towards Cape Ann and the Merrimack Valley, serving the North Shore.

The first leg, operating via the Eastern Route of the former Boston and Maine Railroad, serves Chelsea, Lynn, Swampscott, Salem, and Beverly.

[6] Further cuts on June 14, 1959, ended Marblehead Branch service; stations at East Lynn, Salisbury, and West Manchester were also closed.

[10][11] On December 27, 1966, an outbound Budd RDC struck an oil tanker truck at Second Street in Everett, killing 13 people.

[15] None of the projects in the DEIS or MIS was actually built due to lack of funding, except for parking structures at Salem and Beverly which were mandated as Big Dig mitigation.

Draw Number 7 over the Mystic River between Somerville and Everett, built in 1877, was the oldest horizontally folding drawbridge in the country[19] until it was replaced by a fixed high-level concrete span on August 26, 1989.

The abutments of the approach spans were repaired, followed by a 21-day service shutdown from July 17 to August 13, 2017, for the complete replacement of the swing bridge section.

[32] Portions of the line are being replaced by buses in several phases from April 11 to June 5, 2022, to allow for several construction projects including the completion of the drawbridge.

[14] Schedule changes effective November 2, 2020 shifted some peak service to off-peak, providing 30-minute midday headways on the inner portion of the line, as part of a transition to a regional rail model.

[31] In November 2020, as part of service cuts during the pandemic, the MBTA proposed to close Prides Crossing along with five other low-ridership stations on other lines.

[38] On December 14, the MBTA Board voted to enact a more limited set of cuts, including indefinitely closing Prides Crossing and four of the other five stations.

[43] A series of partial and complete closures of the line took place from March 5 to June 12, 2022, to allow for signal construction work.

[45] As the MBTA plans to transition to a regional rail model with more frequent service, the Newburyport/Rockport Line is a priority for electrification because it serves environmental justice communities.

Studies for facility needs and traction power were noted as being funded, while design and planning for required infrastructure changes were not.

Improvements to a turnback track near Beverly, allowing more frequent diesel service in the interim, are planned to be completed in late 2022.