MBTA Commuter Rail Fares, Zones and Parking North of Boston
Fare by station on the Newburyport/Rockport, Haverhill and Lowell lines, plus parking rates and when the $10 weekend pass beats a round trip.
Your fare depends on the zone of the station at the other end from Boston: a trip to or from Zone 1A is priced at the other station’s zone, and a trip that skips Zone 1A is an interzone fare based on the zones you pass through. Round trips are two one-way tickets. This covers the Newburyport/Rockport, Haverhill and Lowell lines.
Which zone is my station?
Zones come from the MBTA’s public data feed.
Newburyport/Rockport Line
| Station | Zone |
|---|---|
| Lynn (listed as Lynn Interim) | 2 |
| Swampscott | 3 |
| Salem | 3 |
| Beverly and Montserrat | 4 |
| North Beverly, Beverly Farms and Hamilton/Wenham | 5 |
| Ipswich and Manchester | 6 |
| Rowley, Gloucester and West Gloucester | 7 |
| Newburyport and Rockport | 8 |
Haverhill Line
| Station | Zone |
|---|---|
| Malden Center and Oak Grove | 1A |
| Melrose Highlands, Melrose/Cedar Park and Wyoming Hill | 1 |
| Wakefield, Greenwood and Reading | 2 |
| North Wilmington | 3 |
| Ballardvale | 4 |
| Andover | 5 |
| Lawrence | 6 |
| Bradford and Haverhill | 7 |
Lowell Line
| Station | Zone |
|---|---|
| West Medford | 1A |
| Winchester Center and Wedgemere | 1 |
| Anderson/Woburn | 2 |
| Wilmington | 3 |
| North Billerica | 5 |
| Lowell | 6 |
A one-way ride from Salem to North Station is a Zone 3 fare, $8.00. From Reading it is $7.00 (Zone 2), and from Lowell $10.50 (Zone 6).
What the zones cost
MBTA fares by zone. The reduced fare is for people 65 and older, students and people with disabilities who are eligible.
| Zone | One-way | Reduced one‑way | Monthly pass | Monthly mTicket |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1A | $2.40 | $1.10 | $90 | $80 |
| 1 | $6.50 | $3.25 | $214 | $204 |
| 2 | $7.00 | $3.50 | $232 | $222 |
| 3 | $8.00 | $4.00 | $261 | $251 |
| 4 | $8.75 | $4.25 | $281 | $271 |
| 5 | $9.75 | $4.75 | $311 | $301 |
| 6 | $10.50 | $5.25 | $340 | $330 |
| 7 | $11.00 | $5.50 | $360 | $350 |
| 8 | $12.25 | $6.00 | $388 | $378 |
Zones 9 and 10 go up to $13.25 one-way, but they sit beyond our part of the map.
Parking and how often trains run
MBTA lot rates, weekday and weekend, from the MBTA’s stations and rates page:
| Station | Weekday | Weekend |
|---|---|---|
| Salem | $5 | $2 |
| Beverly and North Beverly | $4 | $2 |
| Swampscott, Reading and Wakefield | $6 | $2 |
| Melrose Highlands | $5 | Free |
| Andover and Newburyport | $4 | $2 |
| Anderson/Woburn Park and Ride | $4 | $4 |
| Haverhill | $2 | $2 |
Lynn’s interim station charges $1 an hour or $5 a day. Winchester Center’s lots need a town permit and Ipswich requires a resident sticker. Check the MBTA parking rates page before you go, since lots can change.
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On the Haverhill Line, the weekday timetable shows 23 outbound trips from North Station, the first at 5:55 am and the last at 11:40 pm. Check the line’s timetable page for inbound and weekend times: Haverhill, Newburyport/Rockport and Lowell.
Paying: CharlieTicket, mTicket or cash
Conductors check tickets after you board. During “Fare Is Fair” events, a ticket can be checked at any point in the trip, including before boarding or after you leave the train. There are four main ways to pay.
mTicket app. The app sells one-way, round-trip, 5-day Flex Pass, reduced-fare and monthly passes for every zone, and accepts credit and debit cards. The MBTA says mTicket is best for infrequent riders or pass holders who do not often take the subway or bus. Monthly passes cost $10 less on mTicket, and the 5-day Flex Pass gets a 10 percent discount. The tickets are valid on the Commuter Rail and all MBTA ferries, but not on the subway or bus.
CharlieTicket. A reloadable paper card, best for frequent riders who also take the subway or bus. Monthly passes on CharlieTicket cover the Commuter Rail up to your zone plus the subway and bus. One-way and round-trip tickets are valid on the Commuter Rail up to your designated zone.
Ticket windows and machines. You can buy one-way, round-trip and monthly passes at ticket booths at North Station, South Station and Back Bay, and at fare vending machines. Reduced-fare 10-ride bundles are sold at the booths.
Cash on board. The MBTA lists this as best for infrequent riders at stations where tickets can’t be bought in advance. If you board at a station where tickets are sold, the MBTA says cash on board may include a $3 fee. It is not available during Fare Is Fair events.
CharlieCards are not accepted on the Commuter Rail, except for cards loaded with a monthly Commuter Rail pass.
The $10 weekend pass
The weekend pass is the best deal on the system for leisure trips. It costs $10 and gives you unlimited Commuter Rail rides on one weekend, Saturday and Sunday, valid on all lines and in all zones. There are also $10 Holiday Weekend Passes for Monday or Friday holidays, covering all three days, and $10 Holiday Passes for a single holiday on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday.
You can buy passes in the mTicket app, at ticket windows at North, South and Back Bay stations or on board with cash or a credit card. They are not sold at fare vending machines or retail sales locations.
Compare that with a normal round trip:
| Round trip from | Two one-way fares | Weekend pass |
|---|---|---|
| Lynn (Zone 2) | $14.00 | $10 |
| Salem (Zone 3) | $16.00 | $10 |
| Beverly (Zone 4) | $17.50 | $10 |
| Newburyport (Zone 8) | $24.50 | $10 |
On a weekend the pass beats a round trip from any station in Zone 1 or beyond, and it pays off even more if you plan a day of hopping between towns, for example Salem to Beverly to Ipswich.
Monthly passes and commuting
If you ride five days a week, a monthly pass is the easy choice. A Zone 3 monthly pass is $261, or $251 on mTicket. A monthly CharlieTicket pass has an extra benefit: it also covers the subway and bus. The MBTA also says upgrading a pass to a higher zone is possible at the North or South Station booths or a Charlie Service Center, where you pay the difference, while downgrading a pass does not earn a refund.
Planning a North Shore day
If you are heading to Boston from Salem, Beverly or Lynn, take the Newburyport/Rockport Line, which all end at North Station. If you are coming from Wakefield, Reading, Melrose or Andover, the Haverhill Line is yours. From Woburn or Lowell, it is the Lowell Line.
For the towns along these lines, see Salem, Beverly, Woburn, Lowell and Marblehead.
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Sources
- MBTA: Parking stations and ratesmbta.com
- MBTA: Haverhill Line timetablembta.com
- MBTA: Commuter Rail faresmbta.com
- MBTA: Commuter Rail fare zones and pricesmbta.com
- MBTA: $10 Commuter Rail weekend and holiday passesmbta.com
- MBTA V3 API: Newburyport/Rockport, Haverhill and Lowell stops with fare zonesapi-v3.mbta.com
Details such as dates, hours and prices come from the sources above and can change. Check with the organizer before you go.
How we report: every date, price and address comes from a linked source.
