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Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on rail banking, which refers to the preservation of inactive rail lines as trails, focusing on: (1) the implementation process for rail banking, including whether it protects the various interests of landowners, communities, rail carriers, and those interested in converting the rights-of-ways to trails; (2) the extent to which rail-banked property has returned to use as rail lines and the potential for future reactivation of rights-of-way for rail service; and (3) whether rail banking facilitates the return of these rights-of-way to rail service.
GAO noted that: (1) rail banking is a voluntary agreement between a rail carrier proposing to abandon a right-of-way and a party interested in converting it to a trail (trail sponsor); (2) during the abandonment process, a trail sponsor submits a request to the Surface Transportation Board to use the right-of-way as a trail; (3) in this request, the trail sponsor must agree that: (a) the use of the right-of-way is subject to the restoration of rail service; and (b) it will assume all managerial, financial, and legal responsibility for the right-of-way, including any liability arising out of its use as a trail; (4) if the Board determines that the right-of-way can be abandoned and if the rail carrier agrees to negotiate, the Board will issue trail use authority to the trail sponsor to allow the parties to negotiate a trail use agreement; (5) if a rail-banking agreement is reached between the parties, it may be implemented without any analysis or approval by the Board; (6) approval of the trail use agreement is not required from the landowners that may have underlying rights to the property, the local community, or any other entity; (7) because rail-banked properties are not considered abandoned under the law, the rights-of-way remain intact and adjoining property owners do not have use of the rights-of-way; (8) however, landowners, communities, trail users, or
US General Accounting Office (GAO)
1999-10-18T12:00:00-04:00
2019-05-13T14:18:43-07:00
2019-05-13T14:18:43-07:00
US General Accounting Office (GAO)
uuid:a253d072-5af9-4a67-ab22-b19652ace08b
uuid:1b978c9b-2fb5-407c-b2b1-c9080810cf8e
application/pdf
Railroads; Trails; Abandonment; Laws and legislation; United States
United States General Accounting Office
1999 - Reports - SURFACE TRANSPORTATION: ISSUES RELATED TO PRESERVING INACTIVE RAIL LINES AS TRAILS
Pursuant to a congressional request
GAO provided information on rail banking
which refers to the preservation of inactive rail lines as trails
focusing on: (1) the implementation process for rail banking
including whether it protects the various interests of landowners
communities
rail carriers
and those interested in converting the rights-of-ways to trails
(2) the extent to which rail-banked property has returned to use as rail lines and the potential for future reactivation of rights-of-way for rail service
and (3) whether rail banking facilitates the return of these rights-of-way to rail service.
GAO noted that: (1) rail banking is a voluntary agreement between a rail carrier proposing to abandon a right-of-way and a party interested in converting it to a trail (trail sponsor)
(2) during the abandonment process
a trail sponsor submits a request to the Surface Transportation Board to use the right-of-way as a trail
(3) in this request
the trail sponsor must agree that: (a) the use of the right-of-way is subject to the restoration of rail service
and (b) it will assume all managerial
financial
and legal responsibility for the right-of-way
including any liability arising out of its use as a trail
(4) if the Board determines that the right-of-way can be abandoned and if the rail carrier agrees to negotiate
the Board will issue trail use authority to the trail sponsor to allow the parties to negotiate a trail use agreement
(5) if a rail-banking agreement is reached between the parties
it may be implemented without any analysis or approval by the Board
(6) approval of the trail use agreement is not required from the landowners that may have underlying rights to the property
the local community
or any other entity
(7) because rail-banked properties are not considered abandoned under the law
the rights-of-way remain intact and adjoining property owners do not have use of the rights-of-way
(8) however
landowners
communities
trail users
or
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