Tonawanda Rails to Trails

Tonawanda Rails to Trails is a 3.9 mile trail made up of two segments on a former railroad bed in the Town of Tonawanda and the City of Tonawanda. The corridor carried freight and passenger service dating to the 1880s and had two track systems. A westerly set of tracks was used mainly for passenger and freight service by a succession of companies beginning with the New York & Erie Rail-Road Co. and continuing through the Erie-Lackawanna Railway until 1968. The International Railway Company operated passenger service between Buffalo and Niagara Falls on the easterly tracks from about 1918 to 1937. In 1988, the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority acquired the right-of-way from the Consolidated Rail Corporation through New York State legislation, and the trail was built on the westerly railroad bed. Erie County began the rail-to-trail project in 2002, working with the New York State Department of Transportation, the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority, the Town of Tonawanda, and the City of Tonawanda on planning, funding, operation, and maintenance. Erie County constructed the trail in 2016, and it is operated by the Town of Tonawanda and the City of Tonawanda in their respective jurisdictions through a cooperative agreement with the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority.

Tonawanda Town, New York · United States