43 U.S.C. § 913
Section 913 · Conveyance by land grant railroads of portions of rights of way to State, county, or municipality
Amended 1 time on record
Applied in 16 court decisions — leading case Hash v. United States (2005)
Most recently applied in 104 Fed. Cl. 408 - Beres v. United States (April 2012)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
All railroad companies to which grants for rights of way through the public lands have been made by Congress, or their successors in interest or assigns, are authorized to convey to any State, county, or municipality any portion of such right of way to be used as a public highway or street: Provided, That no such conveyance shall have the effect to diminish the right of way of such railroad company to a less width than 50 feet on each side of the center of the main track of the railroad as now established and maintained.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Cross References
Consent of United States given to any railroad company to convey to highway department of any State any part of its right-of-way, see section 316 of Title 23, Highways.