- Rails with trails
Rails with trails (RWT) are a small subset of
rail trail s in which a railwayright-of-way remains in use bytrains yet also has a parallel recreationaltrail . Hundreds of kilometers of RWTs exist in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Western Australia.United States
In the United States the number of rails with trails is increasing. As of 2000, there were 1,000 rail trails in operation nationwide, with a total length of about 17,750 km (11,029 mi). Of those, 60 (387 km/240 mi) were rails with trails, up from 37 (246 km/152 mi) in 1996. [http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/rectrails/rwt/index.htm Rails-with-Trails: Lessons Learned: Literature Review, Current Practices, Conclusions] . US Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration. August 2002. FTA-MA-26-0052-04-1. 155 pages.] Thus, on average United States rail trails are convert|11|mi|km long, but the small minority of rails with trails are convert|4|mi|km long.
United States rails with trails with articles on Wikipedia:
*New Mexico
**Santa Fe Southern Railway Safety
A 1997 study of the feasibility of rails with trails identified a need for guidelines concerning RWT crossings, fencing, setbacks, and other items. These guidelines were developed in the form of "Rails-with-Trails: Lessons Learned", which finds that "well-designed RWTs meet the operational needs of railroads, often providing benefits in the form of reduced trespassing and dumping. A poorly designed RWT will compromise safety and function for both trail users and the railroad." [FHWA2002, page VII]
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