Newburyport is a small, coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, 35 miles (56 km) northeast of Boston. The population was 17,416 at the 2010 census. A historic seaport with a vibrant tourism industry, Newburyport includes part of Plum Island. The mooring, winter storage and maintenance of recreational boats, motor and sail, still contribute a large part of the city's income. A Coast Guard station oversees boating activity, especially in the swift tidal currents of the Merrimack River.
At the edge of the Newbury Marshes, delineating Newburyport to the south, an industrial park provides a wide range of jobs. Newburyport is on a major north-south highway, Interstate 95. The outer circumferential highway of Boston, Interstate 495, passes nearby in Amesbury. The Newburyport Turnpike (U.S. Route 1) still traverses Newburyport on its way north. The commuter rail line to Boston ends in a new station at Newburyport. The earlier Boston and Maine Railroad leading further north was discontinued, but a portion of it has been converted into a recreation trail.
Newburyport is a passenger rail station on the MBTA Commuter Rail Newburyport/Rockport Line, located off Parker Street in Newburyport, Massachusetts. The station is the terminus of the Newburyport Branch of the line, with transit times to North Station approximately 65 minutes. Three parking lots totalling over 800 spaces are located around the station, which is in a rural area next to the Newburyport Turnpike approximately one mile south of downtown Newburyport. The Clipper City Rail Trail, running along the former right-of-way, connects the station to the town center. Newburyport station is fully handicapped accessible.
The Eastern Railroad's original Newburyport station, opened in 1840, was located in downtown Newburyport, near Merrimac Street. It was later replaced by a large brick structure with a turret on the same spot. Service on the Boston and Maine Railroad's Eastern Route was cut back from Portsmouth, New Hampshire on January 4, 1965, as part of a general discontinuance of the railroad's interstate service. The only service past Hamilton/Wenham (after June 28, past Ipswich) was a single round trip to Newburyport with an intermediate stop at Rowley.