What Is Railbanking?

Railbanking is a way to protect old railroad corridors for the future.

For over 150 years, railroads built tracks across America. These tracks stretched thousands of miles, sometimes through special agreements called easements. When a railroad company wanted to stop using a track, the land could be lost — either sold off or taken back by neighboring property owners. This broke up many old rail routes, making it impossible to rebuild them.

In 1983, Congress created a solution called railbanking. Railbanking keeps a rail corridor legally protected even if trains stop running. Instead of full abandonment, a railroad and a new caretaker agree to preserve the route for possible future freight or passenger rail service.

Once railbanked, nothing has to change on the ground. The tracks can stay in place. The corridor can remain unused. A trail can be added next to the tracks, or the tracks can be removed and replaced with a trail. Freight or passenger rail service can still return in the future if needed.

Railbanking keeps the corridor whole, whether it remains unused, becomes a trail, or someday serves trains again.

How Railbanking Works

When freight service on a rail line ends, the owner — whether a private company or a public agency — can ask for permission to abandon it. Instead of full abandonment, the owner can offer the corridor for railbanking. Sometimes the owner continues as the caretaker; sometimes a different public agency or nonprofit steps in. In either case, the caretaker agrees to protect the corridor for possible future freight or passenger rail use and assumes legal responsibility for the property.

This process must be approved by the federal Surface Transportation Board, and the caretaker must meet certain conditions to qualify.

Why Railbanking Matters

  • Preserves corridors: Once land is broken up, it is almost impossible to put back together. Railbanking keeps these valuable transportation routes intact.

  • Enables trails: Railbanked corridors can host trails that offer recreation, transportation, and tourism benefits.

  • Protects property rights: Railbanking prevents legal disputes where neighboring property owners might claim parts of the rail land.

  • Protects trail managers from property claims: If railbanking leads to property rights lawsuits, any compensation is paid by the federal government, not by the local agency.

  • Simplifies long-term land management: One public agency or nonprofit can manage the entire corridor efficiently, without needing to negotiate access across broken parcels.

  • Maintains eligibility for transportation funding: Railbanked corridors can qualify for state and federal grants that support trails, active transportation, and transit corridors.

  • Keeps future options open: If a community ever needs to bring back freight or passenger rail service, the corridor remains available.

Across the United States, hundreds of rail corridors have been successfully railbanked, preserving thousands of miles of transportation routes. When there is cooperation among the parties involved, railbanking is usually a straightforward process and can often be completed in a matter of months. It has become a proven and effective tool for protecting corridors while allowing for community use and future transportation needs.

Realistic Risks to Understand

Railbanking is not a perfect or automatic process. There are some risks:

  • Opposition: A freight company could oppose railbanking and try to block it outright. Or it could negotiate terms, such as money or access rights, allowing the corridor to be railbanked.

  • Responsibility: The caretaker (usually a public agency) becomes legally responsible for the corridor.

  • Trail limitations: If freight or passenger rail service is ever restarted, any trail built directly on the tracks would likely have to be moved or removed.

  • Not guaranteed: Railbanking depends on legal filings and agreements. It can fail if parties cannot agree or if the Surface Transportation Board denies the request.

Railbanking remains a smart way to protect important transportation corridors while providing near-term community benefits like trails. It keeps options open in a way that simple abandonment does not. It has proven to be a reliable approach — but it takes careful work, agreement among key parties, and a willingness to manage the risks.

References

  1. Railbanking on the Santa Cruz Branch Rail Line, 2021 SCCRTC FAQs

  2. Preservation of the Santa Cruz Branch Rail Line Memo, 2021 SCCRTC Memo

  3. Santa Cruz Branch Rail Line Acquisition FAQs, 2010 SCCRTC FAQs

  4. Railbanking, Rails to Trails Conservancy

  5. How to Railbank, Rails to Trails Conservancy