Salem Halloween 2023: Record 1.2 Million Visitors Invade Witch City In October

SALEM, MA — A record 1.2 million visitors descended upon the Witch City in the five weeks leading up to Halloween as a series of rainy weekend days did little to dampen the ever-growing interest in the holiday's unofficial hometown in October.

"I wanted to take a moment to thank everyone who makes this possible," Salem Mayor Dominick Pangallo said in a message to the community on Wednesday, "our residents, for their patience and hospitality; our city workers and partners for their professionalism and commitment; and our business community, for their dedication to a thriving and vibrant city.

"It's not easy and it's not without disruptions and challenges — we're all grateful when November arrives, for sure — but it’s part of what makes our city a special, unique place."

Heeding advisories — and outright warnings — about lack of parking and increased fines for violations, from city officials, the MBTA and Keolis said on Monday that more than 110,000 passengers boarded the train to or from Salem during October weekends, with an average of 27,000 passengers per weekend, topping the September 2023 weekend ridership average by more than 10,000 passengers.

The Rockport/Newburyport line saw ridership that matched or bettered pre-COVID levels with more than 400,000 passengers in October, including 21,000 on Halloween Day alone.

"We're pleased to see this bump in Salem ridership and glad so many riders chose mass transportation over driving," MBTA General Manager and CEO Phillip Eng said. "This is a great example of ridership returning to the T because the public trusts that we can get them to their destinations quickly, safely, and on time."

The MBTA touted an "on-time performance" of better than 90 percent for the Newburyport/Rockport line during the month. On-time performance is an industry standard measured by the percentage of trains that arrive at their final destination within five minutes of their scheduled time.

The ridership included those on the additional trains to and from Salem that the MBTA and Keolis put on for the Halloween season, and despite an Oct. 8 hiccup in which several of the extra trains had to be canceled early in the day because of what the MBTA termed "crew issues."

"Welcoming over a million visitors to our historic city in one month is no small operation, and it's only possible with the MBTA and Keolis' pro-active engagement and thoughtful planning to help make sure it all goes smoothly," Pangallo said. "The best way to come to Salem is to use public transportation, and the commuter rail is the foremost public transportation option available."

Keolis said it also increased coach and station cleaning and coordinated additional parking attendants and mechanical staff. Customer service support was also available at Beverly Station to assist with parking.

"We are pleased to report a substantial increase in weekend ridership and strong overall performance to and from Salem during the month of October," said Abdellah Chajai, CEO and General Manager of Keolis Commuter Services. "The additional service provided commuters with more flexibility and options, making it easier to choose Commuter Rail over travel by car."

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)