This suggests that a well-designed pathway provides a safe travel alternative and reduces the incentive to trespass or use the tracks as a shortcut. Out of the tens of thousands of fatalities on railroad corridors in recent decades, only one involved a trail user on a rail-with-trail.Constructing a trail along an active railroad multiplies the value a community derives from the rail corridor and provides citizens with transportation options.

Another 60 rail-with-trail projects across the country are currently in various stages of development. Rails-with-trails represent almost 10% of the total number of rail-trails in America. There are 161 rails-with-trails in 41 states, a 260 percent increase since 2000.It provides a collection of data, examples and practical tools to increase awareness of the rail-with-trail concept. The report is based on research which studied 88 rails-with-trails in 33 states, based on a survey of trail managers and the results of their ongoing study over the past 20 years. The Rails to Trails Conservancy has released a new report designed to be a resource for planners, agencies and advocates on trails along active railroad corridors. Report Concludes RWT's are Safe, Common, and Growing Simply putting up a sign, handing out a brochure at the local Walmart telling residents not to walk on the tracks isn't working as rising trespasser casualties demonstrate. They may be the shortest and most direct path for locals to get to school, jobs or other destinations. Railroad corridors often divide communities. Yet the Federal Government spends $220 million per year to improve the safety of road crossings but nothing on the safety of the actual corridors where these tragedies occur. The bottom line is that our Nation, starting with our children, must think of railroads and rail operations differently.'įeinberg made these remarks at the opening of the March, 2015 Forum on Trains and Trespassing: Ending Tragic Encounters. These lessons simply have not sunk into the consciousness of the American people. 'Generally, Americans just don’t equate railroad rights-of-way or rail bridges with life-threatening danger. And as a safety official, this statistic is especially sobering, because each one of those deaths and injuries were completely preventable.' says Sarah Feinberg, Acting Federal Rail Administrator. Just last year, more than 500 people were killed and about 400 people were seriously injured as a result of trespassing. 'As the nation’s chief rail safety regulator, nothing is more poignant to me than the simple fact that trespassing is the leading cause of all rail related deaths.

Since 2000 there has been an increasing trend of building rails-with-trails along passenger rail and rail transit linesĬommunities continue to look at active railroad corridors as safe, feasible corridors to provide active transportation facilities for their citizens. The majority of rails-with-trails (68 percent) are located along Class I, II, or III railroads.

Some of the key findings of the report include:Īs of 2018, there were 343 identified rails-with-trails in the United States, totaling 917 miles in 47 States.

The 2002 FHWA report was considered as a key resource for trail champions interested in developing rail-with-trail facilities.ĭistribution of Rail-With-Trails Across the USĪccording to the new publication, there has been a significant growth of these facilities across the United States, The US Department of Transportation recently released Rails-with-Trails: Best Practices and Lessons Learned, a follow-up to its 2002 rails with trails report.

Rails to trails