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Right-of-way (railroad)

 

 
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Right-of-way (railroad)
 
 
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A right-of-way is a strip of land that is granted – through an easement
Easement

An easement is a non-possessory interest to use real property in possession of another person for a stated purpose. An easement is considered as a property right in itself at common law and is still treated as a type of property in most jurisdictions....
 or other mechanism – for transportation purposes, such as for a rail line or highway
Highway

A highway is a main road intended for travel by the public between important destinations, such as city and towns. Highway designs vary widely and can range from a two-lane road without margins to a multi-lane, grade separated freeway....
. A right-of-way is reserved for the purposes of maintenance or expansion of existing services with the right-of-way. In the case of an easement, it may revert to its original owners if the facility is abandoned.

In the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
, railroad rights-of-way are considered private property by the respective railroad owners and by applicable state laws.






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A right-of-way is a strip of land that is granted – through an easement
Easement

An easement is a non-possessory interest to use real property in possession of another person for a stated purpose. An easement is considered as a property right in itself at common law and is still treated as a type of property in most jurisdictions....
 or other mechanism – for transportation purposes, such as for a rail line or highway
Highway

A highway is a main road intended for travel by the public between important destinations, such as city and towns. Highway designs vary widely and can range from a two-lane road without margins to a multi-lane, grade separated freeway....
. A right-of-way is reserved for the purposes of maintenance or expansion of existing services with the right-of-way. In the case of an easement, it may revert to its original owners if the facility is abandoned.

In the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
, railroad rights-of-way are considered private property by the respective railroad owners and by applicable state laws. Most U.S. railroads employ their own police forces, who can arrest and prosecute trespassers found on their rights-of-way.

In the United Kingdom
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
, railway companies received the right to resume land for a right-of-way by a private act of Parliament
Act of Parliament

An act of Parliament is a statute wikt:enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament. It is broadly equivalent to an act of Congress in the United States....
.

Sometimes, in residential areas, building setbacks
Setback (land use)

In land use, a setback is the distance which a building or other structure is set back from a street or road, a river or other stream, a shore or flood plain, or any other place which needs protection....
 are based on a street right-of-way, as opposed to the front property line.

Uses other than rail transport

Railroad rights-of-way need not exclusively be for railroad tracks and related equipment. Easements are frequently given to permit the laying of communication cables (such as optical fiber
Optical fiber

An optical fiber is a glass or plastic fiber that carries light along its length. Fiber optics is the overlap of applied science and engineering concerned with the design and application of optical fibers....
) or natural gas
Natural gas

Natural gas is a gas consisting primarily of methane. It is found associated with fossil fuels, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is created by methanogenic organisms in marshes, bogs, and landfills....
 pipelines, or to run electric power transmission
Electric power transmission

Electric power transmission is the bulk transfer of electrical power , a process in the delivery of electricity to consumers. A power transmission grid typically connects power plants to multiple Electrical substation near a populated area....
 lines overhead.

Some railroad rights-of-way include recreational rail trail
Rail trail

Rail trail is a term for a trail that makes use of a Right-of-way . A rail trail can be either a "rail to trail", created in a right-of-way where the railway has been discontinued, or a Rails with trails, created in a right-of-way where the railway remains in use....
s.

See also

  • Noise barrier
    Noise barrier

    A noise barrier is an exterior structure designed to protect sensitive land uses from noise pollution. Noise barriers are the most effective method of mitigating roadway noise, railway, and industrial noise sources ? other than cessation of the source activity or use of source controls....
  • Permanent way
    Permanent way

    The permanent way means the physical elements of the Rail transport line itself: generally the pairs of rails typically laid on sleepers embedded in ballast, intended to carry the ordinary trains of a railway....
  • Rail transport
    Rail transport

    Rail transport is the conveyance of passengers and goods by means of wheeled vehicles running along railways . Rail transport is part of the logistics chain, which facilitates international trade and economic growth....
  • Right-of-way
    Right-of-way

    Right-of-way or right of way may refer to:In geography:*A situation in which although a parcel of land has a specific private owner, some other party or the public at large has a legal right to traverse that land in some specified manner....
  • 2003 Abbeville, South Carolina right-of-way standoff