Federal Railroad Rights of Way (CRS Report for Congress)
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| Release Date |
May 3, 2006 |
| Report Number |
RL32140 |
| Report Type |
Report |
| Authors |
Pamela Baldwin and Aaron M. Flynn, American Law Division |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
Summary:
During the drive to settle the western portion of the United States, Congress sought to encourage
the
expansion of railroads, at first through generous grants of rights of way and lands to the great
transcontinental railroads between 1862 and 1871, and later through the enactment of a general right
of way statute. The 1875 General Railroad Right of Way Act permitted railroads to obtain a 200-foot
federal right of way by running tracks across public lands. Some railroads also obtained rights of way
by private purchase or through the exercise of state or federal powers of eminent domain. Therefore,
not all railroad rights of way are on federal lands, and the property interest of a railroad in a right of
way may vary. The courts have characterized the interest held by a railroad pursuant to a federally
granted right of way variously: as a "limited fee" in the case of a land grant right of way, or as an
easement in the case of a right of way under the 1875 Act.
As railroads closed rail lines, questions arose as to the disposition of the lands within the former
rights of way. Many individual instances were resolved in separate legislation. In 1922, Congress
enacted a general law to provide that federal railroad rights of way on federal lands become the
property of the adjacent landowner or municipality through which the right of way passed. This law
is unclear in several respects -- for example, as to what procedures are sufficient to constitute an
abandonment of a right of way, and on what authority Congress could provide for the establishment
of highways within the right of way after abandonment of the rail line. In 1988, in what
is popularly
known as the Rails to Trails Act, Congress opted to bank rail corridors, keeping them available for
possible future use as railroads and making them available for interim use as recreational trails.
Some cases have held that Rails to Trails results in takings of private property when non-federal
easements were involved. In the context of federal rights of way, recent cases have held that the
federal government did not retain any interest in federal railroad rights of way when the underlying
lands were conveyed into private ownership, and therefore if an abandoned rail corridor is held for
interim trail use, compensation is owed the adjacent landowners. However, Congress has legislated
numerous times over the years regarding federal railroad rights of way, as though Congress believed
it had continuing authority over their ultimate disposition. Issues may continue to arise surrounding
the disposition of federal railroad rights of way, possibly involving, for example, the authority of
Congress over the rights of way, the nature of the interest held by the railroad, the validity of
attempts by the railroad to convey all or part of that interest, and disputes between adjacent
landowners over perceived entitlements to lands within a particular right of way.
This report discusses the history of federal railroad rights of way and some of the cases
addressing them. It will be updated from time to time as circumstances warrant.
