Arrangements Between Railroads - Trackage Rights

Trackage rights (or running rights, or running powers (UK)) is an arrangement where the company that owns the line retains all rights, but allows another company to operate over certain sections of its track. The agreement may specify whether the latter company can serve customers on the line. In some cases, the former company may opt to not run any trains over the line but still own it; this can also be done via a partial lease. Overhead trackage rights or incidental trackage rights refers to the case of the latter company not being allowed to serve customers along the line. It is only granted the right to "overfly" the right-of-way of the lessor, using the tracks of the lessor's railroad.

Trackage rights can be temporary or long-term as needed. Temporary rights agreements are typically made when some kind of disaster affects one railroad while a parallel railroad line is fully operational. The parallel railroad will often grant temporary rights to the affected railroad until the problem is resolved. Long-term agreements can be made to allow competing railroads access to potentially profitable shippers or to act as a bridge route between otherwise disconnected sections of another railroad. A union station typically involves trackage rights; the company that owns the station and associated trackage is typically owned in part by the railroads that use it, which operate over it by trackage rights. In the United States, all such agreements are filed with the Surface Transportation Board and are available as a matter of public record.