Railbanking

Often the rail corridor is put in custody of a state transportation agency, which then seeks a new operator for possible rehabilitation or reactivation.

This helps ensure the possibility of future restored rail service when new economic conditions may warrant resuming operation.

[2] Of that, 8,056.5 miles (12,965.7 km), representing 56.8% of the lines abandoned in the past 25 years, were originally negotiated for railbanking agreements.

[3] Railbanked corridors are usually utilized as multi-use recreational trails for cyclists, walkers, joggers, snowmobiling, cross country skiing, and horseback riding.

In 1990, the United States Supreme Court ruled that the property owners were entitled to compensation for the land taken for these rail trails.

[10] Today, this policy continues; the State will purchase any right-of-way that shows future potential for transportation, when the property becomes available.

[11] Because of this, Connecticut is one of the only states where railbanked corridors have a reasonable chance of reactivation (should there be a need to), where elsewhere local opposition from trail users and property abutters would be able to directly influence a municipally-owned right-of-way.

The local, state, and federal governments could give some financial help for the railroad to rebuild any infrastructure that may have been damaged or destroyed during the time that it was unused.

In 2017 the STB ruled that Neosho County in Kansas violated the Trails Act when it foreclosed on and sold three parcels of railbanked land where each spanned the full width of the right-of-way.

[13] By designating the route as railbanked, these complications are avoided and the costs of maintaining a right-of-way are removed from the railway operator.

In the United Kingdom, thousands of miles (kilometers) of railway were closed under the Beeching Axe cuts in the 1960s and while several of these routes have subsequently been reopened, none were formally treated as land banks in the US manner.