Advocates for turning the railroad into a trail, including the Greater Bethesda-Chevy Chase Coalition and the newly formed Coalition for the Capital Crescent Trail began to lobby local and federal officials to do so, putting together a Concept Plan in 1988. Despite opposition from neighbors and those who wanted the right-of-way for mass transit, an excursion train or other development, they were able to convince the Montgomery County Government, along with a coalition of developers and government agencies, to purchase the right-of-way from the D.C. line to Silver Spring. Montgomery County purchased the right-of-way on December 16, 1988, four days after the ICC approved the purchase and transfer, under the Trails System Act. CSX sold the Maryland section of the line for $10.5 million. The following year, the County voted to build a trolley and bike trail along the Bethesda-Silver Spring section of the right-of-way.