Railbanking is a voluntary agreement between a rail carrier proposing to abandon a right-of-way and a party interested in converting it to a trail (trail sponsor). This report describes (1) the implementation process for railbanking, including whether it protects the various interests of landowners, communities, rail carriers, and those interested in converting the rights-of-way to trails; (2) the extent to which railbanked property has returned to use as rail lines and the potential for future reactivation of rights-of-way for rail service; and (3) whether railbanking facilitates the return of these rights-of-way to rail service.
