Joint railway

These include: Most joint railways in the United States have historically been terminal railroads, which have typically been formed and co-owned by several connecting railroads serving a major urban center to reduce the need for redundant right of way and expensive infrastructure such as tunnels or bridges.

Terminal railroads have often incorporated a union station, allowing for more convenient connecting service for passengers, particularly in the era before Amtrak when passengers may have needed to switch from one company's train to another to reach their ultimate destination.

Variations on trackage rights include "direction running" agreements between two railroads with parallel lines through an area, usually done to facilitate greater traffic volume.

[citation needed] For instance, CSX and NS have a directional-running agreement between downtown Cincinnati, Ohio and nearby Hamilton, where northbound trains generally use NS trackage and southbound trains (with the exception of Amtrak's Cardinal) use CSX tracks.

North of Hamilton, NS trains use CSX tracks on a traditional trackage-rights agreement for a two-mile (3 km) section.