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North American Rail Network Lines

Metadata Updated: February 4, 2026

The North American Rail Network (NARN) Rail Lines dataset was created in 2016 and was updated on January 29, 2026 from the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and is part of the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT)/Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) National Transportation Atlas Database (NTAD). The NARN Rail Lines dataset is a database that provides ownership, trackage rights, type, passenger, STRACNET, and  geographic reference for North America's railway system at 1:24,000 or better within the United States. The data set covers all 50 States, the District of Columbia, Mexico, and Canada. The RROWNER1–3 fields identify the parties responsible for operation, maintenance, and/or ownership to the railroad. It includes the railroad dispatcher (operational control) identifying the specific railroad entity managing the movement of trains over that segment, the maintenance responsibility identifying who is legally obligated to maintain the rail line, and/or the property owner (land and right-of-way) identifying the entity that owns the underlying land. While many railroads own their right-of-way (ROW) in "fee simple", others operate on land owned by a third party. The same entity may fulfill one or more of these roles on the same line.  A data dictionary, or other source of attribute information, is accessible at https://doi.org/10.21949/1528950

Access & Use Information

License: No license information was provided. If this work was prepared by an officer or employee of the United States government as part of that person's official duties it is considered a U.S. Government Work.

Downloads & Resources

Dates

Metadata Date February 3, 2026
Metadata Created Date September 24, 2024
Metadata Updated Date February 4, 2026
Reference Date(s) July 1, 1995 (creation), January 29, 2026 (revision)
Frequency Of Update quarterly

Metadata Source

Harvested from National Transportation Atlas Database (NTAD) Metadata

Additional Metadata

Resource Type Dataset
Metadata Date February 3, 2026
Metadata Created Date September 24, 2024
Metadata Updated Date February 4, 2026
Reference Date(s) July 1, 1995 (creation), January 29, 2026 (revision)
Responsible Party Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) (Point of Contact)
Contact Email
Guid North American Rail Network Lines
Access Constraints Access Constraints: unrestricted
Bbox East Long -59.92723405299995
Bbox North Lat 64.92614285600007
Bbox South Lat 14.672256264000055
Bbox West Long -156.68975728199996
Coupled Resource
Frequency Of Update quarterly
Harvest Object Id c5bea9dd-01eb-4fb8-b499-d130890efa32
Harvest Source Id ee45e034-47c1-4a61-a3ec-de75031e6865
Harvest Source Title National Transportation Atlas Database (NTAD) Metadata
Licence This NTAD dataset is a work of the United States government as defined in 17 U.S.C. § 101 and as such are not protected by any U.S. copyrights. This work is available for unrestricted public use.
Lineage
Metadata Language eng; USA
Metadata Type geospatial
Old Spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": [[[-156.68975728199996, 14.672256264000055], [-59.92723405299995, 14.672256264000055], [-59.92723405299995, 64.92614285600007], [-156.68975728199996, 64.92614285600007], [-156.68975728199996, 14.672256264000055]]]}
Progress onGoing
Spatial Data Service Type
Spatial Reference System 3857
Spatial Harvester True

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