Rail trail

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Rail trails are former railway lines that have been converted to paths designed for pedestrian, bicycle, skating, equestrian, and/or light motorized traffic. Most are multiuse trails offering at least pedestrians and cyclists recreational access to the routes.

Contents

1 History
2 Conversion issues
3 Typical features
4 Railbanking
5 List of rail trails completed and proposed
6 See also
7 Further reading

7.1 United States
7.2 Canada
7.3 Mexico
7.4 Europe
7.5 Austrailia
7.6 Other Nations

History

In North America, the decades-long consolidation of the rail industry led to the closure of a number of now-uneconomical branch lines in the 1960s. Some were maintained as short line railways, but many others were simply abandoned.

Beginning with a few lines in the Midwestern United States, these disused industrial relics were turned into ecological areas functioning as linear parks or community space, but mainly as transportation or recreation corridors for walking, hiking, bicycling, horse riding, birdwatching, etc.

By the 1970s, even trunk lines were being sold or abandoned. This was especially true when regional rail lines merged and streamlined their operations. As both the supply of potential trails increased and awareness of the possibilities rose, state governments, municipalities, conservation authorities and private organizations bought the rail corridors to create, expand or link greenspaces. The first abandoned rail corridor in the United States converted into a recreational trail was the Elroy-Sparta State Trail in Wisconsin, which opened in 1965. The following year the Illinois Prairie Path opened. The longest developed rail trail is currently the 225-mile Katy Trail in Missouri; when complete, the Cowboy Trail in Nebraska will extend for 321 miles.

Gradually, the movement acquired the name "rail trails" and created organizations to promote its ideas. Currently, there are tens of thousands of miles and thousands of rail trails in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia and many other countries. The main factor reducing the potential scope of the movement is the lack of abandoned or surplus rail lines in continental Europe, although even there abandoned canal towpaths are readily available and used for similar purposes.

Conversion issues

Rail trail conversions can be quite complex for a variety of legal, social and economic reasons. Railroads in North America were often built with a mix of purchased land, government land grants, and easements. The land deeds can be over a hundred years old, land grants might be conditional upon continuous operation of the line and easements may have expired, all expensive and difficult issues to determine at law.

Railroad property rights have typically been poorly enforced, with neighboring property owners intentionally or accidentally using land they do not own. Such encroachers often later oppose a rail to trail conversion. Even residents who are not encroaching on railway lands may oppose conversion on the grounds of increased foot traffic in the area and its perceived decline of personal security.

Because linear corridors of land are only valuable if they are intact, special laws regulate the abandonment of a railroad corridor. In the United States, the Surface Transportation Board regulates railroads, and can allow a corridor to be 'rail banked' or placed on hold for possible conversion back to active status when or if future need demands.

While many rail trails have been built, many more potential trails were squashed by community opposition. The stature of the conversion organization, the quality of involvement of the local community, and government willingness are all keys factor in the successful acceptance of a trail.

Bicyclist on the Conotton Creek Trail in Ohio.

Typical features

Most original rail lines were surveyed for ease of transport and gentle (often less than 2%) grades. Therefore, the rail trails that succeeded them are often fairly straight and ideally suited to overcome steep or awkward terrain such as hills, escarpments, rivers, swamps, etc. Rail trails often share space with linear utilities such as pipelines, electrical transmission wires and telephone lines.

Most purchase of railway land is dictated by the free market value of the land, so that land in urban and industrial cores is often impractical to purchase and convert. Therefore, rail trails may end on the fringes of urban areas or near industrial areas and resume later, as discontinuous portions of the same rail line, separated by unaffordable or inappropriate land.

Hiker on the Pine Creek Rail Trail in Pennsylvania.

Rail trails are usually about 9 to 27 metres (30 to 120 feet) wide. They are most often graded and covered in gravel or crushed stone, although some are paved with asphalt and others are left as dirt. Where rail bridges have been directly incorporated into the trail, the only alterations (if any) tend to be adding solid walking areas on top of ties or trestles. If paved, they are especially suitable for people in wheelchairs.

Where applicable, the same trails used in the summer for walking, jogging and inline skating can be used in the winter for Nordic skiing, snowshoeing and sometimes snowmobiling.

Railbanking

Railbanking is the practice of preserving railroad rights-of-way for possible future use. One such means to accomplish this is by using them as multi-use trails. In the United States, the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (RTC) is a nonprofit organization, headquartered in Washington, D.C., which promotes railbanking.

Many railroads are not built on land that is actually owned by the railroad company, but is simply an easement. The terms of the easement often require that the land continue to be used for transportation, or it will revert to the property owner; railbanking often satisfies these conditions, keeping the corridor around if future conditions, such as depletion of oil reserves ("peak oil"), ever promote the conversion back to rails. However, conversion back to an active railroad can face considerable community opposition due to local attachment to a multi-use trail. As a result modern railroads are often hesitant to railbank a line as a rail trail.

RTC was founded in 1986 and has currently more than 100,000 members. The organization does not build trails, but promotes policy at the national and state levels to create the conditions that make trail building possible by local groups. RTC helps to keep the federal Transportation Enhancements program, which is the largest source of funding for trail development.

List of rail trails completed and proposed

This features an extensive list of completed, proposed, and those under construction.

Rail trail

History

Conversion issues

Typical features

Railbanking

List of rail trails completed and proposed

See also

Further reading

United States

Canada

Mexico

Europe

Austrailia

Other Nations