If you read this while waiting for the train in Salem Monday morning, you likely encountered the mayor or others bearing petitions seeking support for a new waiting area and garage.

If you read this wh ile waiting for the train, you were also likely freezing. With the wind whipping off the North River, Rep. John Keenan describes the train platform at the Salem depot as "probably the coldest place in North America."

That's a slight exaggeration, of course. But there's no question commuters deserve a more comfortable place in which to wait the arrival of the MBTA's commuter trains than the concrete slab and Plexiglas shelters which serve that purpose now.

Mayor Kim Driscoll, says it's either now or a long time from now for construction of a new parking facility and waiting area at the train station.

Preparations are already well underway for the new courthouse that will be built across the street. Once completed all those judges, lawyers, clerks, and jurors will need someplace to park too.

Indeed, the need for parking in this part of the downtown is bound to grow between the activity generated by the courthouse and the increasing numbers choosing to use public transportation to get in and out of Boston. The Patrick administration needs to make a new station a priority.