Hon. Olin Culberson, Chairman 

Railroad Commission of Texas 

Austin, Texas Opinion No. V-1402 

Dear 

fice 

when 

Re: Statutory penalty 

for failure of a 

railroad to keep 

its ticket office 

open for half an 

hour prior to the 

departure of trains 

Sir: which are late. 

You have requested the opinion of this ofas to the possible legal consequences Involved 

a Texas railroad has advised its ticket office 

employees not to keep the ticket offices open for 

half an hour prior to the departure of trains operating behind schedule. 

Your question requires a construction of 

Article 6416, V.C.S., which reads as follows: 

“The passenger fare upon all railroads in-this State shall be three cents 

per mile, with an allowance of baggage to 

each passenger not to exceed one hundred 

pounds in weight; provided, however, that 

when the fare is paid to the conductor, 

the rate shall be four aents per mile, except from stations where no tickets are 

sold, and that the minimum charges in no 

case shall be less than twenty-five cents; 

and provided, further that when the passenger fare does not end in five or naught, 

the nearest sum so ending shall be the fare; 

provided, that in no case shall children under ten years of age be charged a higher 

rate of fare than two cents per mile. Railroads shall be required to keep their tlm 

offices open for half an hour prior to the 

departure of trains. and upon failure to do 
Hon. Olin Culberson, Page 2 (V-1402) 

so they shall not charge more than three 

cents per mile." [Emphasis supplied) 

Initially we must determine whether this 

statute requires a railroad to keep its ticket office open for half an hour prior to the scheduled 

departure or prior to the actual departure of passenger trains, when there is a variance between such 

times. 

In discussing the particular portion~of 

Article 6416, with which we are here concerned, the 

Texas Supreme Court used the following language in 

Mlssourf Pacific Ry. Co. v. McClanahan, 66 Tex. 530, 

. W * 576 (1886): 

I, 

. . The section referred to fixes 

the passenger fare upon all railroads in 

this state at three cents per mile, and 

contains the following provisions: 'Provided, however, that where the fare Is paid 

to the conductor, the rate shall be four 

cents per mile, except from stations where 

no tickets are sold: * * * provided, further, 

railroads shall be required to keep their 

ticket offices open half an hour prior to 

the departure of trains, and upon failure 

to do so, they shall not charge more than 

three cents per mile.' The first provision in the section as quoted, was ~obviously intended to~,induce passengers to buy tickets before ,entering the Cars;:and was doubtless' inserted In the Interest and for the 

protection of the~rallroad companies; .The~ 

object of the second, on the other hand, was 

to protect passengers against the contingency 

of having to pay the advanced rate of fare 

without being afforded ample opportunity to 

procure tickets. . 0 . 

"In the opinion of the court, If these companies keep their ticket offices open half 

an hour before the departure of trains, they 

have a right to claim of passengers entering 

the cars without tickets, fare at the rate of 

four cents per mile; but, if the office be 

not so kept open, in no case can more than 

'three cents per mile be rightfully demanded e . ." 
Hon. Olin Culberson, Page 3 (V-1402) 

Although the Texas Court did not have 

before It a situation where the train departed behind schedule, we find authorities in other jurisdictions having statutes similar to the Texas statute where that question has been decided. 

Kansas has a statute very similar to Article 6416, V.C.S. It requires railroads to keep 

thelr_ticket offices open for at least thirty min- 

;%&"$mmedlately prior to the starting of such 

In Atchison, T. & S.F; Ry. Co. v. Dwelle, 

44 I&. 394. 24 Pac. 500 (logo) . th e Kansas Sunreme 

Court heid that keep& the ticket office open-for 

thirty minutes prior to the scheduled time of departure, but not until the actual delayed departure, 

was not sufficient to comply with the Kansas statute 

when the passenger train was behind time. 

On the other hand, In the case of Pondee 

v. Lexington & E. Ry. Co., 164 Ky. 69, 174 s.W.6 

(1915), under a Kentucky statute which required rallroads-to keep their ticket offices open at least 

thirty minutes "Immediately preceding the scheduled 

time of departure of all passenger trains", the Court 

held that the company was only required to keep its 

offices open for thirty minutes prior to the scheduled 

time of departure, as the statute did not require the 

company to keep its offices open until a delayed train 

had arrived and departed. 

The Texas statute makes no distinction between the scheduled departure and the actual departure 

of a late train. As was pointed out In Missouri 

Pacific Ry. Co. v. McClanahan, supra, the purpose of 

the Texas statute Is to afford a passenger an "ample 

opportunity" to procure a ticket, and this would unquestionably be denied such a passenger If the ticket 

office were not kept open for at least half an hour 

before the departure of a late train, particularly is 

this true because the circumstance of the train's being late Is beyond the control of the passenger. 

We therefore hold that railroads must keep 

their ticket offices open at least half an hour prior 

to the actual departure of their passenger trains, irrespective of whether the train departs on schedule. 
Hon. Olin Culberson, Page 4 (V-1402) 

You also inquire as to the legal consequences of a railroad's falling to keep its ticket 

offices open as we have indicated herein. The 

statute.clearly provides that in the event of such 

failure, the company may not charge more than three 

cents per mile as passenger fare. Gulf C. &S.F. 

Ry. Co. v. Dyer, 95 S.W. 12 (Tex. Civ. App. 1906, 

error ref.) 

SUMUARY 

Railroads are required to keep their 

ticket offices open for half an hour prior 

to the actual departure of passenger trains. 

Upon their failure to do so, they are not 

authorized to charge more than three cents~ 

per mile as passenger fare. Article 6416, 

V.C.S. 

Yours very truly, 

APPROVED: 

Charles E. Crenshaw 

011 and Gas Division 

E. Jacobson 

Reviewing Assistant 

PRICE DANIEL 

Attorney General 

BY 

Charles D. Mathews 

First Assistant 

DJC:mds