Early Warning System: Alerting local communities of rail abandonments for corridor preservation and future trail use
Rails-to-Trails Conservancy monitors requests filed by the Surface Transportation Board (the Federal agency which oversees rail transactions) and notifies community activists and officials of impending abandonments. Notifications through the Early Warning System include the tools and information needed to successfully preserve rail corridors for public- and trail- use through railbanking.
Federal regulations require interested parties to request railbanking within 30 to 45 days, so without this program, many community leaders would learn of rail abandonments too late.
If you would like to receive notice of pending rail abandonments in your area via RTC's Early Warning System, please join our Early Warning System notification list. By joining, you will receive:
- Notifications of railroad abandonments in your state;
- Tools needed to successfully preserve rail corridors for trail use;
- Contact information for state agency representatives active in trail development.
Working together we can help preserve railroad corridors and create a robust network of trails that shape how people live, work and play in communities across this country.
Early Warning System gets results!
Communities across the nation have reacted to our alerts and taken action to railbank corridors for trail use. Communities that have taken advantage of our Early Warning System in 2008 include:
|