New 'Rail Trail' To Open In Southampton

UPPER SOUTHAMPTON, PA — Officials in Lower Bucks County will officially start work on 2.5 miles of new hiking, biking and walking trail on Tuesday.

A groundbreaking ceremony for the Newtown Rail Trail will be held at 1 p.m. outside the Historic Southampton Train Station, at 613 Second Street Pike in Southampton.

The 2.5-mile, 12-foot-wide trail will run between the train station and Strathmann Home Center and will connect Tamanend Park, in Upper Southampton, to the popular Pennypack Rail Trail in Montgomery County.

Bucks County commissioners and other local officials and advocates are expected at the groundbreaking.

The trail will be located on SEPTA's former Newtown branch, which itself was a rail line dating from the 1800's. It has been out of service since 1983.

It will become part of what's known as The Circuit, an 800-mile bicycle circuit that runs throughout the Delaware Valley.

The trail project, which will cost about $2.4 million, is a collaborative effort between Bucks County, Montgomery County and Upper Southampton Township, with much of the funding coming from PennDOT programs.