The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1908-11-21
MUST CONTINUE srATloN
Petition Of Rutland Railroad Company
Is Denied.

Albany n. Y, Nov. 21.-The public
service commission for the second dis,
trict announced today, in an opinion
prepared by Commissioner Decker It's
dismissal of the petition of the Rut-
land Railroad company for leave to
discontinue Forest station in the
town Of Albany Clinton county.
The opinion Of Commissioner Decker
lays down general rules governing the
discontinuance Of station facilities
which will be Of general interest, as
follows
a railroad is chartered and operat-
ed to serve the public along It's line
with passenger and freight facilities.
Such facilities include the provision
and maintenance of stations and BY
agents to conduct properly the BUSH
ness of the company with its patrons
II does not follow that every passen.
ger, freight or mixed train or that
every station must pay separate pro
it. Something must be contributed
from the. general earnings TO the pro
vision OF service designed to meet
reasonable requirements of the pub
lie in smaller localities. The traffic
as a whole, gathered from all sources
and carried by all trains to and from
small as well as large stations and
connecting lines Is what constitutes
the carriers business.
The first duty Of a new operating
no ilpooH 20 rf.iof, &c IN agfa hitch
at such distances apart and with such
reference to existing communities as
will best serve the territory through
which the road runs, and it must there
after be prepared to transact its bus
mess as a carrier at all points on it's
| line. The nonagency station is ex-
ceptional and is generally so limited
only where the business is occasional
or of very little public consequence.
The agency station is required for To-
cal and through ticketing and through
baggage checking, freight billing, col
lection of freight charges, the care of
freight during the process of shipping
and delivery, the supply OF cars and
the general conduct of the company's
local transportation affairs. Without
| these facilities a railroad company Is
only half carrier and experience
shows that its service at points where
! they have been withdrawn gradually
falls into disuse No more effective
way can be devised to hasten, in a
commercial sense. the collapse of q
struggling community
The practice OF station abandon
ment solely because of small existing
! revenue returns Is poor business pol
icy for the carrier itself The rail
road is the most potent factor in the
development of sparsely settled local
tiles and such development returns &c
The railroad an increase of business
This holds good in all sections of the
land. To practically withdraw thai
! powerful element Of commercial pro
gress and create a tendency toward
retrogression, or actually produce tha
undesirable condition where the ten
dency already exists The importanc,
of maintaining usual railroad station
facilities in present relatively sparse
ly settled sections OF country as lonl
as public demand remains in any sui
stantial degree is manifestly in tn,
interest of the carrier as well as tn
community. DiscOntinuance OF thes
facilities is justified only under mos
exceptional conditions which demon
strate not merely insignificant return
to the railroad, but such continuou
lack OF public demand as to rende
future provision Of usual station fac
ilities plainly unnecessary.