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The type of right of way (also right-of-way) dealt with here, is a type of easement granted, purchased, or reserved over land for transportation purposes, such as highways, railways, canals, as well as electrical transmission, oil, and gas pipe lines. [1] In the case of an easement, it may revert to its original owners if the facility is abandoned. Likewise, a "right of way" can also be granted, through private or public land or waterways, for the legal use by pedestrians, equestrians, cyclists, boaters, and others.
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.
A "permissive right of way" is closed for a day or more each year and access can also be rescinded at anytime.
The article Right of way focuses on public access to land by foot, bicycle, or horseback, as well as along a waterway or foreshore.
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 privates Act of Parliament.
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]
A "right of way" can also be granted, by landowners, or local and national governments, through private or public land or waterways, for the legal use by pedestrians, equestrians, cyclists, boaters, and others. In the US a network of long distance trails have been established under the National Trails System Act, in response to a call by President Lyndon B. Johnson to have a cooperative program to build public trails for "the forgotten outdoorsmen of today" in both urban and backcountry areas. [3] The program for long-distance natural trails was created on October 2, 1968, by the National Trails System Act, which also designated two national scenic trails, the Appalachian Trail and the Pacific Crest Trail, and requested that an additional fourteen trail routes be studied for possible inclusion. Under the Act, 21 National Historic Trails have also been created designated to protect the courses of significant overland or water routes that reflect the history of the nation, as well as National Scenic Trails.
See Rights of way for trails, paths and waterways established by continuous historic use, i.e. prescription.