Swampscott Rail Trail

The Swampscott Rail Trail will be a 2-mile linear park throughout the town for every neighborhood, every resident, and every age. The Rail Trail is about new and better ways to connect our neighborhoods, our residents, and our natural environment. The Rail Trail will run along the National Grid utility corridor starting at Stetson Avenue and running east through the middle of the town to the Marblehead town line and connecting to the Marblehead Rail Trail. The utility corridor is the former Marblehead branch of the Boston & Main Railroad, service of which was ended in 1959. 

In May 2017, the Swampscott Town Meeting approved (by a vote of 210 to 56) a warrant article to move forward with the Rail Trail and to provide funding for the design and engineering of the trail as well as the costs for the acquisition of the easement rights. This warrant article was unanimously sponsored by the Board of Selectmen and supported by the Finance Committee, Capital Improvement Committee, School Committee, Planning Board, Open Space & Recreation Plan Committee, and Conservation Commission.

In June 2017, a town-wide election was held to bring the question of the Rail Trail project to the entire community. Swampscott voters affirmed Town Meeting's approval by a margin of 12%.

DESIGN & ENGINEERING

The Town of Swampscott has retained the services of STV Inc. to lead the design and engineering phase of the rail trail development.

Schedule

Below is the current schedule for the development of the design and engineering plans for the future Swampscott Rail Trail.

Presentations

If you aren't able to attend the public meetings that are part of the design & engineering phase of the rail trail (such as meetings of the Rail Trail Design & Construction Advisory Committee or public forums), you can use the links below to download the presentation files from those meetings.