Other cases pending in rail conversion
A court ruled last month that nine property owners are entitled to compensation for land they own along a 41-mile dormant rail line, a portion of which is eyed as a hiking and biking trail between Beacon and Hopewell Junction.
Judge David Tapp of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims ruled on March 24 that the easements granted to Metro-North for the segment, which extends from the Beacon waterfront to the Connecticut border, are limited to rail use, meaning landowners can proceed with claims for compensation.
Tapp also found that the federal Surface Transportation Board “blocked” the interests of the landowners when it issued a “notice of interim trail use or abandonment” to Metro-North in February 2024.
The decision rejected the federal government’s argument that seven of the nine landowners represented by the law firm Lewis Rice failed to prove that they owned the land adjacent to and underneath the tracks. Tapp also dismissed an argument that the landowners misapplied the “centerline presumption” — a general rule that property conveyed for a right-of-way extends to the center of a road or rail line.
The case now moves to the compensation phase, which could include site visits and a trial, according to Lewis Rice. Another law firm, Stewart, Wald & Smith, has filed three federal lawsuits on behalf of more than 260 landowners along the line.
Both firms specialize in “rails-to-trails” cases. Lewis Rice’s recent victories include $5 million for 164 landowners in Henderson and Transylvania counties in North Carolina and $460,000 for three landowners in Sarasota County, Florida.
Metro-North, which acquired the line in 1995, is negotiating to relinquish the tracks to the state for the proposed 13-mile Beacon-to-Hopewell trail, according to court documents. It would begin at the city’s Metro-North station, then wind for 4 miles around the city’s southern perimeter before running parallel with Tioronda Avenue and the east end of Main Street.
Major crossings would include Churchill Street and East Main Street (at the dummy light). The trail would run underneath Route 9D (at Tioronda Avenue) and hug northbound Route 52 (Fishkill Avenue) to the city line.
The trail would connect with the proposed Hudson Highlands Fjord Trail near the bridge at Madam Brett Park, where planners envision a trailhead. Scenic Hudson, which is building the Fjord Trail between Beacon and Cold Spring, is a member of the Beacon-to-Hopewell Trail Advisory Committee.
Once the rail trail leaves the city, it would veer back and forth over Fishkill Creek on its way through the Village of Fishkill and the towns of Fishkill and East Fishkill. At Hopewell, it would connect with the Dutchess Rail Trail, the Maybrook Trailway and, overlaying both, the 750-mile Empire State Trail.
A planning firm hired by Dutchess County told the Beacon City Council last month that it has found no major roadblocks to the trail’s construction. Dutchess County released a report on the corridor’s condition in November. A final report, with detailed concepts, cost estimates and phasing recommendations, should be finished by the summer.
