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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. There are also air rights that relate to the property interest in the "space" above the Earth's surface, as well as the right to access sunlight.
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A " permissive right of way" is closed for a day or more each year and access can also be rescinded at anytime.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 surveys the variety of ways the term "right of way" is used, while emphasising public access to land by foot, bicycle, or horseback, as well as along a waterway or foreshore.
Right of way selection for the routes of railroads, highways, pipelines, electrical grids, etc, include land acquisition ( eminent domain).
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.
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.
In real estate, air rights are the property interest in the "space" above the Earth's surface.
Related to this is " Freedom of the air", which is also called five freedoms of air transport, are a set of commercial aviation rights granting a country's airlines the privilege to enter and land in another country's airspace.
Another right relating to air space above land or water is right to light a form of easement in English law that gives a long-standing owner of a building with windows a right to maintain an adequate level of illumination. The right was traditionally known as the doctrine of "ancient lights". [4] In England, the rights to ancient lights are most usually acquired under the Prescription Act 1832. In American common law the doctrine died out during the 19th century, and is generally no longer recognized. Japanese law provides for a comparable concept known as nisshōken (literally "right to sunshine"). A similar contemporary right is a solar easement. This is a right, expressed as an easement, restriction, covenant, or condition contained in any deed, contract, or other written instrument executed by or on behalf of any landowner for the purpose of assuring adequate access to direct sunlight for solar energy systems. [5]