North Shore’s commuter line ranked worst

SWAMPSCOTT – People waiting for the commuter rail train out of Rockport Monday afternoon instead saw a message flashed on the announcement board at the Swampscott station suggesting they seek alternative forms of transportation because the train would be “significantly late.”Swampscott resident Matt Korgaie, who takes the commuter rail almost daily from Swampscott to work in Boston, expressed frustration with the late arriving train.”It is never on time,” Korgaie said. “In the last 10 months I have taken the train daily and I think it has been late 95 percent of the time. I never get into Boston on time. The bad weather we had just made everything worse. I have waited up to 45 minutes. At least my boss is understanding.”That afternoon train was later canceled.Boston resident Maria Sanchez was visibly frustrated when she heard the news.”Not again,” she said. “I don’t drive. I took the commuter rail to visit a friend. A couple of times I waited more than 30 minutes because of the snow. It is never on time.”Lenny Polacco, who works at Swampscott High School and lives in Swampscott, was getting ready to make his first trip on the commuter rail when the train was canceled.”This is my first time taking the train,” he said. “I am going to Boston for an appointment. My car is at the high school so I’ll just wait for the next train.”The commuter rail had its worst month in several years in January, according to data provided by the MBTA.MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo referred calls regarding performance to the Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad (MBCR), an independent company that manages the commuter rail for the MBTA.MBCR spokesman Scott Farmelant said the Newburyport and Rockport trains that run through Swampscott, Lynn and other North Shore communities had the worst on-time performance of any of the 13 commuter rail lines.”The Newburyport line was on time 59 percent of the time,” he said. “The Rockport (line) was on time 54 percent of the time. Those are the worst commuter rail performance percentages anywhere on the system.”Commuters getting off an earlier train in Swampscott on Monday afternoon had better things to say about the commuter rail.Beverly resident Matthew Sullivan took the train to Swampscott.”I take the train almost daily,” he said. “A couple of weeks ago it ran late for a couple of days because of the weather, but it has been pretty reliable. It’s better than the bus.”Betty Spellios, who lives in Marblehead, said she takes the train to Boston every Monday.”I love it,” she said. “There were a couple of days it ran late because of weather, but I love it. When the weather is bad a lot of cars won’t run at all.”Beverly resident Sarah Sheehan usually takes the commuter rail from Beverly to Lynn, where she is a student at North Shore Community College.But on Monday afternoon she got off in Swampscott to hit the gym.”Some days it’s a little late when there’s bad weather, but it’s usually on time,” she said. “I always arrive at the station 10 minutes early because sometimes it’s early.”Farmelant said system wide 72.6 percent of trains in January were on time. He added almost half of all commuter rail delays in January were the direct result of winter weather.”The system has struggled for six weeks due to treacherous harsh weather conditions. The unrelenting nature of the weather is causing issues. That’s not an excuse and we are continually trying to improve. We understand the frustration on the part of commuters.”