A right of way (also right-of-way) is a type of easement granted, purchased, or reserved over land for transportation purposes, such as footpaths, highways, railways, canals, as well as for infrastructure equipment such electrical transmission, oil, and gas pipe lines, to enable access to another property or properties.[1] In the case of an easement, it may revert to its original owners if the facility is abandoned. A right of way for access may be restricted to a single grantee.
The term "right of way" is also used to denote the land itself, such as the strips of land along a railroad track on which railroad companies own a right of way easement, or a trail or path.
In the United States, railroad rights of way (ROW or R/O/W) are generally considered private property by the respective railroad owners and by applicable state laws. Most U.S. railroads employ their own police forces, who can arrest and prosecute trespassers found on their rights-of-way. Some railroad rights-of-way include recreational rail trails.
In Canada, railroad rights of way are regulated by federal law.
In the United Kingdom, railway companies received the right to resume land for a right of way by private Acts of Parliament.
See also: Adverse abandonment |
The various designations of railroad right of way are as follows:
Railroad rights of way need not be exclusively for railroad tracks and related equipment. Easements are frequently given to permit the laying of communication cables (such as optical fiber) or natural gas pipelines, or to run electric power transmission lines overhead.
Many spatial planning experts are concerned about construction of houses/buildings around railway right-of-way does not pay attention to safety aspects — the distance between railway right-of-way and houses/buildings that are too close is dangerous — railway right-of-way is a train blind spot area that must be avoided. For example, in Vietnam — Hanoi Department of Tourism ordered the permanent closure of cafes and shops along Hanoi Train Street for the safety despite being a popular tourist destination for foreign tourists in Hanoi.[2]