Wow, I totally forgot to post this after North Beverly, but anyway…this is going in reverse from what I actually did one summer day, but I walked from Montserrat to North Beverly in half an hour! Who knew they were within somewhat close walking distance?

Well, here we are.

Okay, Montserrat’s platform is pretty barebones. The inbound side is basically just a “modern” Commuter Rail shelter, and that’s about it. There’s practically nothing on the outbound side aside from a few newspaper boxes and a wastebasket, although it does inexplicably continue past the level crossing with Spring Street! I don’t know why the heck that’s the case, but if you want to be unique and wait on the other side of a level crossing, you can.

Oh, come on!

I’ll just briefly mention Montserrat’s parking lot, which is pretty small with just 117 spaces. I will say that it’s nice they were able to even fit a lot in the middle of this residential neighborhood, so we’ll take what we can get. Oh, also, the station mini-highs are awful. They’re not quite as decrepit as North Beverly’s, but they’re close and they still have nothing on them.

Heading off into the foggy abyss.

Station: Montserrat

Ridership: Wow…did you guys know that this is the second-busiest station on the whole independent section of the Rockport Line? Yeah, only Gloucester has higher ridership that this weird little station in the middle of a residential area. So, how many people per day does the second-busiest station on the Rockport Line get? Oh…356. Okay, clearly the Rockport Line gets less ridership than I realized.

Pros: It has your basic amenities, and there isn’t much more you need platform-wise than the shelter on the inbound side. It’s a short enough platform that the shelter is pretty close to the mini-high.

Cons: Obviously, the mini-high platforms are terrible. Other than that, there’s the fact that when trains are stopped here, they block traffic at two level crossings instead of just one! Speaking of level crossings, I must ask again why part of the outbound platform is past one of them…

Nearby and Noteworthy: There’s a tiny shopping plaza near the station with a pizza joint, a convenience store, and a few other similar establishments. That’s about it.

Final Verdict: 4/10
You know, Montserrat is probably of similar quality to North Beverly, but I find myself liking it just a bit more. Maybe it’s that the surrounding area is nicer? That’s all I can really think of, since I do find this station has a tiny bit of charm. Just a little bit.

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