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2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 161 - Street Railways › Section 58 - Eminent Domain

Section 58. A domestic company may apply to the board of aldermen of a city or to the selectmen of a town where it desires to take land, for an adjudication that public necessity and convenience require that certain land, or interests in land, as described in its petition, and for the specific purpose therein stated, be taken by such company, to enable it, in constructing its street railway, or extension thereof, to avoid dangerous curves or grades existing in the highways, or for other similar purposes incident to and not inconsistent with its corporate franchise of operating a railway to accommodate public travel in public ways. If the board to which such application is made finds in favor of the petitioner, after the notice and hearing required by law in the case of the grant of locations for street railways in public ways, the company may, upon complying with the provisions prescribed for railroad corporations by section eighteen of chapter one hundred and sixty, apply to the department for a certificate that public necessity and convenience require the construction of the railway between the termini and substantially upon the route fixed by the agreement of association in case of a company organized under the general laws and by the charter of a company created by special statute, or of the extension substantially on the locations already granted therefor, and for approval of the adjudication of the board of aldermen or of the selectmen as to the necessity and reasons for taking land or rights in land in every city or town where such adjudication has been made. If the department, after public notice and a hearing, at which all persons or corporations alleging that they would be injured by the construction of the railway shall be deemed to be interested parties and entitled to be heard, grants the certificate as prayed for, the petitioner may take by eminent domain under chapter seventy-nine any land or rights in land the taking of which has so been approved by the department.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 161 - Street Railways › Section 59 - Eminent Domain; Application of Other Sections

Section 59. A company acting under authority of the preceding section shall be subject to sections seventy-five, seventy-six, eighty, eighty-one, eighty-six, ninety to ninety-three, inclusive, ninety-six and two hundred and fifty-two of chapter one hundred and sixty, and, if its railway crosses a public way or another street railway, except where its railway is constructed within the limits of another public way crossing such way or street railway, it shall also be subject to sections ninety-seven to one hundred and three, inclusive, one hundred and forty, one hundred and forty-one, and one hundred and forty-seven to one hundred and fifty, inclusive, of said chapter; provided, that wherever by said sections any jurisdiction is conferred upon a board of county commissioners, the same shall in the case of a company be exercised by the board of aldermen of the city or by the selectmen of the town where the land or other property proposed to be taken is situated.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 161 - Street Railways › Section 60 - Eminent Domain; Crossing of Public Way

Section 60. A company authorized to construct its railway at grade across a public way in any place where such crossing is not a part of the crossing of such way by another public way, and incident to the construction of the street railway longitudinally within the limits of such other public way, shall, in any proceedings for the abolition of such grade crossing, be considered as a railroad corporation under sections sixty-five to eighty-two, inclusive, of chapter one hundred and fifty-nine if such company has taken any land or other property under authority of the two preceding sections; and it may bring a petition, or be made a respondent to any petition brought by any of the other parties named in said sections, in the same way and be subject to the same liabilities as if it were a railroad corporation.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 161 - Street Railways › Section 62 - Limitations

Section 62. A company shall not lease or contract for the operation of its railway for a period of more than ninety-nine years without the consent of the general court, nor, except as provided in the three following sections and in section one hundred and twenty-three, shall it sell its railway unless authorized so to do by its charter or by special act of the general court.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 161 - Street Railways › Section 64 - Financing Sale or Consolidation

Section 64. The purchasing or consolidated company may, subject to section twenty-eight, increase its capital stock and issue bonds to an amount necessary for the purposes authorized in the preceding section, and may exchange its securities for those of the selling or merged company, if the aggregate amount of the capital stock and debt of the two contracting companies shall not by reason of such purchase and sale or consolidation be increased.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 161 - Street Railways › Section 65 - Powers and Duties of Combined Companies

Section 65. Such purchasing or consolidated company shall have the powers and privileges, and be subject to the duties, liabilities and restrictions, of the company selling or merged, but, except as provided in this chapter or chapter one hundred and fifty-nine, no right to conduct an express business or to be a common carrier of merchandise shall, by reason of any such sale or consolidation, be allowed over any location where it had not been granted prior to April tenth, eighteen hundred and ninety-seven.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 161 - Street Railways › Section 66 - Use of Facilities of One Railway by Another

Section 66. Two domestic companies, whose railways connect with or intersect each other or together form a continuous line, may contract that either company shall perform all the transportation upon and over the whole or any part of the railway of the other; or any such company may lease its franchise, property and railway to any other such company; but the facilities for travel on either of the railways of said companies shall not be thereby diminished or the rates of fare increased. Such contract or lease shall not be valid or binding until its terms have been agreed to by a majority of the directors, and have been approved, at meetings called therefor, by a vote of a majority in interest of the stockholders of each of said companies, and by the department as required by section fifty-four of chapter one hundred and fifty-nine. The income arising from such contracts or leases shall be subject to the provisions of law relative to the reduction of fares in the same manner as that arising from the use of the railways. Such railways shall be considered as connecting with or intersecting each other, or forming a continuous line, if one of them connects with or intersects or forms a continuous line with a railway leased to or operated by the other under a contract authorized by this section.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 161 - Street Railways › Section 67 - Powers of Railway Contracting for Operation of Railway or Taking Lease of Railway

Section 67. A company which contracts for the operation, or takes a lease, of another railway shall, subject to the terms of such contract or lease, have and enjoy the powers and privileges, and be subject to the duties, liabilities and restrictions of the company owning it; but no right to carry on an express business or to be a common carrier of merchandise shall be allowed, except as provided in this chapter or chapter one hundred and fifty-nine, over any location where it had not been granted prior to March twenty-ninth, eighteen hundred and ninety-seven.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 161 - Street Railways › Section 68 - Sale of Portion of Railway; Payment of Dividends From Money Received

Section 68. A company shall not appropriate for the payment of dividends any money received from the sale of any portion of its railway, unless it first reduces its capital stock issued, by an amount which, at its par value, is equal to the amount which such portion of its railway cost said company.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 161 - Street Railways › Section 69 - Purchase of Connecting or Intersecting Line of Company Organized in Another State

Section 69. A domestic company may purchase from a street railway company incorporated under the laws of another state so much of the railway, franchise and property of such other company as is located or used and exercised within this commonwealth when the railway of such other company connects with, intersects, or forms a continuous line with that of the purchasing company; provided, that the facilities for travel on the railway of each of said companies within this commonwealth shall not thereby be diminished, or the rates of fare increased; and provided, that no such purchase shall be valid or binding until the terms thereof have been approved by the department as required by section fifty-four of chapter one hundred and fifty-nine.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 161 - Street Railways › Section 69a - Merger of Association or Trust Owning Capital of Company Into Company

Section 69A. An association or trust which owns all of the capital stock of a company may be merged into such company. Such company and such association or trust shall enter into an agreement in writing which shall prescribe the terms of the merger. Such agreement shall be approved by unanimous vote of each class of stock of said company at a meeting called for the purpose and for which notice of meeting is waived. Such agreement shall be approved by affirmative vote by such association or trust in the manner provided in the written instrument or declaration of trust under which such association or trust was formed or is regulated. Within thirty days after the meeting at which such merger has been voted, articles of amendment setting forth (1) said vote, (2) a copy of the agreement for said merger, and (3) a certificate that all of the stock of the company is owned by the association or trust certified by the president, treasurer and a majority of the directors of the company and by the persons authorized to execute said agreement for the association or trust shall be submitted to the department for approval. Within thirty days after such approval, the documents filed with the department, together with a certified copy of the order of the department approving the proposed merger shall be filed with the state secretary accompanied by a fee to be determined annually by the commissioner of administration under the provisions of section three B of chapter seven. The state secretary shall examine such articles of amendment and, if he finds that they conform to the provisions of the law relative to the merger of companies and associations or trusts, he shall so certify and endorse his approval thereon. No merger shall take effect until the articles of amendment have been filed as aforesaid. Upon the filing of such articles, all of the property, real, personal and mixed of the merged association or trust shall vest in and be held and owned by the company as the same were before held and owned by the merged association or trust.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 161 - Street Railways › Section 70 - Extension of Location; Proceedings

Section 70. The board of aldermen of a city or the selectmen of a town, on petition of fifty legal voters, or on petition executed in accordance with the by-laws or a vote of the directors of a company whose tracks are located in said city or town, after public notice and a hearing as provided in section seven, may grant a location for the extension of the tracks of such company, and prescribe how said tracks shall be laid and the kind of rails, poles, wires and other appliances to be used; but they shall impose no terms or conditions to such grant in addition to those imposed by general laws on such companies in force on October first, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight, or such as may have been imposed in the grant of original location to such company in such city or town subsequent to said date. No such extension of a location shall be valid, until the department, after public notice and a hearing, shall certify that such extension is consistent with the public interest. If the department requires an alteration in such extension before so certifying, it shall notify the board of aldermen or selectmen, granting such extension, of such alteration; and thereafter said board of aldermen or selectmen may amend such extension in accordance with such alteration; provided, that, if such alteration involves a change in the route of the railway, public notice and a hearing shall be given as provided in the case of the original application for an extension; and thereafter the department may, as a part of the original proceedings before it, certify that such extension so amended is consistent with the public interest. An extension, so certified, shall be a valid location, if, within sixty days after the issue of notice of said certification to the company, it files a written acceptance of such extension, executed in accordance with its by-laws or a vote of its directors, with the board of aldermen or selectmen. An extension granted by a board of aldermen or selectmen, but refused certification hereunder by the department, or not accepted as hereinbefore provided, shall be void.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 161 - Street Railways › Section 71 - Alteration of Location; Proceedings

Section 71. The board of aldermen of a city or the selectmen of a town, on petition executed in accordance with the by-laws or a vote of the directors of a company whose tracks are located in said city or town, or on petition of any interested party, after public notice and a hearing as provided in section seven, may alter the location of the tracks in the manner prescribed in, and subject to, the preceding section. Such alteration shall be made by such company within such time, and the expense thereof shall be borne by such parties and in such proportions, as the board of aldermen or selectmen may determine. No such alteration of a location shall be valid, until the department, after public notice and a hearing, shall certify that such alteration is consistent with the public interest. If the department requires an amendment to such alteration before so certifying, it shall notify the board of aldermen or selectmen of such amendment; and thereafter the board of aldermen or selectmen may amend such alteration in accordance with the said amendment; provided, that, if the amendment involves a change in the route of the railway, public notice and a hearing shall be given as provided in the case of the original application for an alteration; and thereafter the department may, as a part of the original proceedings before it, certify that such alteration so amended is consistent with the public interest. An alteration, so certified, shall be a valid location, if, within sixty days after the issue of notice of said certification to the company, it files a written acceptance of such alteration, executed in accordance with its by-laws or a vote of its directors, with the board of aldermen or selectmen.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 161 - Street Railways › Section 72 - Authorization to Grant in Public Way or Upon Private Land

Section 72. The several boards, departments and commissions authorized by law to grant locations to companies may, to enable any such company to avoid interruption of its service, on petition of such company or of any interested party, grant temporary locations for the tracks of the company in any public place or way, or may approve temporary locations upon private land without notice and hearing. The body granting or approving such temporary locations may place a limit of time upon their use, and if unlimited as to time such use shall terminate after such reasonable time as, in the opinion of such body, will permit, without interruption, the restoration of service upon the locations of the company. The department may approve such temporary locations without notice and hearing.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 161 - Street Railways › Section 73 - Authorization to Grant While Bridge Closed

Section 73. If a bridge upon which a company is authorized to lay and use tracks is being or is to be altered, rebuilt, improved or repaired, the board of aldermen of a city or the selectmen of a town on petition of the president or a majority of the directors of such company may grant a temporary location for the extension of the tracks of such company in any public way in such city or town so as to provide such connection between the existing tracks of such company upon either side of such bridge as will prevent any interruption of proper transportation facilities by reason of such alteration, improvement, rebuilding or repair, and may prescribe how said tracks shall be laid and the kind of rails, poles, wires and other appliances to be used. Such location shall not be valid unless the board of aldermen or selectmen file with the clerk of the city or town concerned a certificate that the granting of the location is consistent with the public interest. In no case shall a location be valid unless, within thirty days after the filing of the said certificate or after the entering of a decree by the department, a majority of the directors of the company shall file with the body granting the location a written acceptance thereof.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 161 - Street Railways › Section 74 - Application to Department

Section 74. A company whose petition for such temporary location has been refused in whole or in part, or has been neither granted nor refused, within fourteen days after the filing thereof, may apply to the department for such temporary location. If the department deems public necessity and convenience require such temporary location, it may enter a decree granting the same, and may prescribe the use of such appliances and impose such conditions and obligations as it deems proper.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 161 - Street Railways › Section 75 - Termination of Location

Section 75. A company which is granted such temporary location for the extension of its tracks shall not maintain them nor operate cars over them beyond the period during which the operation of its cars over such bridge is interrupted by reason of such alteration, improvement, rebuilding or repair, and at the end of such period shall remove its tracks from the public ways upon and over which such temporary location has been granted.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 161 - Street Railways › Section 76 - Cost of Temporary Tracks Constructed Due to Alteration of Grade Crossing

Section 76. If such bridge is altered, rebuilt, improved or repaired under sections fifty-nine to sixty-four, inclusive, of chapter one hundred and fifty-nine, the cost of construction of the tracks upon and over such temporary location shall be reckoned as a part of the charges and expenses of the alteration, improvement or repair of the crossing, to be apportioned by the special commission as provided thereunder.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 161 - Street Railways › Section 77 - Proceedings

Section 77. The board of aldermen or selectmen, after the expiration of one year from the opening for use of a street railway in their city or town, and after public notice and a hearing as provided in section seven, if public necessity and convenience in the use of the public ways so require, may, for good and sufficient reasons to be stated in the order therefor, revoke the location of a street railway in any public way therein; but unless, within thirty days after such order of revocation, the company consents thereto in writing, such order shall not be valid until approved by the department after public notice and a hearing. If such order of revocation is approved, the company shall become obligated to remove the railway included in the location thus revoked at such time or times as the municipal or state authorities having control of the public way or ways occupied thereby shall propose to resurface any part or parts of such way or ways or to remove the same forthwith upon order of the board of aldermen or selectmen, but it shall be under no obligation to pay for any part of the resurfacing thereof. Upon receiving written notice from such municipal or state authorities at any time after the approval of such revocation that it is proposed to resurface any part or parts of such way or ways, the company shall thereupon remove at its own expense the railway from such part or parts included in the location so revoked coincidentally with the resurfacing of such way or ways. If the company shall fail to remove its railway as above provided, such municipal or state authorities may cause the work to be done at the expense of the company, and such expense may be recovered in tort.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 161 - Street Railways › Section 78 - Expense of Widening; Way Not Presently Containing Track

Section 78. If application is made for a location in a public way where no street railway tracks are located, and such way is widened under chapter eighty or eighty-two by an order declaring the widening to be necessary for public convenience for the purpose of granting such location of street railway tracks therein, a proportionate share of the expense of such widening may be assessed upon a company accepting a location in the way so widened; but the amount of such assessment, in addition to the amounts assessed on real estate, shall not exceed one half of the total cost of such widening.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 161 - Street Railways › Section 79 - Expense of Altering or Changing Grade; Way Containing Track

Section 79. If a public way where the tracks of a company have been located for a period of five years is altered, or if the grade thereof is changed under chapter eighty or eighty-two, the company shall pay such proportionate share of the expense thereof, including therein the necessary cost of changing its railway to conform to such alteration or change of grade, as may be assessed upon it, provided that, if betterments are assessed, no such assessment on the company shall exceed the aggregate amount of all the betterments assessed upon real estate, and that in no case shall such assessment exceed one quarter of the total cost of such alteration or change of grade.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 161 - Street Railways › Section 81 - Application to Have Way Designated as Highway; Determination; Payment for Damages

Section 81. If the board of aldermen of a city or the selectmen of a town and a company having a location in a way which said board of aldermen or said selectmen or the county commissioners of the county where said city or town lies have in writing requested the commonwealth to take charge of, make application to the department of highways, and with the application submit satisfactory plans, profiles and cross sections of said way, said department shall indicate on such plans, profiles and cross sections a location and grade for the tracks of said company. If said department considers said way suitable for a state highway, and said department and the company by vote of its directors agree as to the proportionate part of the cost of construction which shall be paid by the commonwealth and by the company, said department may pay, out of the appropriations for the construction and repair of state highways, said proportionate part of the damages sustained by a person whose property may be injured by the construction of such state highway, and of the cost of grading it to the lines established by said department. A way graded under this section shall remain a town way or a highway, subject to all laws relative thereto, until said way is taken charge of as a state highway by the commonwealth.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 161 - Street Railways › Section 82 - Power of Department of Highways

Section 82. If a public way in which a street railway location has been granted shall be thereafter laid out, taken charge of or constructed by or under the authority of said department of highways, it shall thereafter, relative to the location and maintenance of a street railway upon such state highway, have the authority conferred by sections seven, seventy, seventy-one, seventy-seven and eighty-nine upon boards of aldermen and selectmen, and shall exercise such authority in the same manner, and subject to the same rights and limitations, except that subject to the approval of the department of telecommunications and energy an order of said department of highways for the alteration of a location may be made without the written acceptance of alterations required by said section seventy-one. If the company fails to comply with such order so approved within the time specified therein, said department of highways may carry out the work at the expense of the company, and such expense shall be recovered in contract.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 161 - Street Railways › Section 83 - Certificate of Compliance

Section 83. No street railway or portion or extension thereof shall be opened for public use until the department, after an examination, certifies that all laws relative to its construction have been complied with, and that it appears to be in a safe condition for operation; but this section shall not compel the department to grant such certificate until the entire road included in the location of such railway, portion or extension has been completed.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 161 - Street Railways › Section 84 - Rate of Speed; Use of Tracks; Number and Routes of Cars

Section 84. The board of aldermen or the selectmen may, subject to the approval, revision or alteration of the department, establish such regulations as to the rate of speed, the manner and extent of use of tracks, and the number and routes of cars which run over such tracks, within their city or town, as public interest and convenience require; and a street railway company whose servants or agents wilfully or negligently violate any such regulations shall forfeit not more than five hundred dollars.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 161 - Street Railways › Section 85 - Clearance of Snow From Tracks; Regulations of Department of Highways

Section 85. The department of highways, in respect to state highways, and the superintendent of streets of cities or officers exercising like authority therein and the selectmen in towns in respect to all other public ways, shall establish regulations for the clearance of snow from its tracks by any street railway company operating therein, and for the removal of such snow by said company from the public ways in which such tracks are located; provided, that no such company shall be compelled to remove from the public ways in which its tracks are located an amount of snow greater than it has cleared from between its rails and between its tracks and from a space eighteen inches wide on either side of its tracks.
Annually on or before September first the said department of highways and the local authorities above named shall transmit to the president or other officer of each company operating its cars in the public ways subject to regulations established by said department of highways or local authorities, and to the department of telecommunications and energy, a copy of such regulations. Within fourteen days after the receipt by any company of such regulations, such company may, by its president or a majority of its board of directors, petition the department of telecommunications and energy for such amendments thereof as said president or said board of directors deem reasonable. The department of telecommunications and energy shall, after notice and hearing, within sixty days of the receipt of said petition, file with the said department of highways or the said local authorities and with the president of such company its findings upon said petition, including such amendments of said regulations, if any, as the department of telecommunications and energy deems reasonable, and thereafter such regulations as amended shall be and remain in force until September first following and until other regulations are established as herein provided.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 161 - Street Railways › Section 86 - Voluntary Discontinuance of Use of Tracks; Removal of Track

Section 86. If a company voluntarily discontinues the use of any part of its tracks for a period of six months, it shall become obligated to remove such track at such time or times as the municipal or state authorities having control of the public way or ways occupied thereby shall propose to resurface any part or parts of such way or ways or to remove the same forthwith upon order of the board of aldermen or selectmen. Upon receiving written notice from such municipal or state authorities at any time after such discontinuance for a period of six months that it is proposed to resurface any part or parts of any such way or ways, the company shall thereupon remove at its own expense such discontinued tracks coincidentally with the resurfacing of the part or parts of such way or ways which are being resurfaced or upon receipt of written notice of such order by the board of aldermen or selectmen, shall likewise remove the same forthwith, but it shall be under no obligation to pay any part of the expense of resurfacing. If the company shall fail to remove its tracks as above provided, such municipal or state authorities may cause the work to be done at the expense of the company, and such expense may be recovered in tort. If a company without right or lawful excuse discontinues the use of any track and when requested by the board of aldermen of the city or by the selectmen of the town where such track is located refuses to operate the same, the mayor of such city, if duly authorized by vote of the city council or the selectmen of such town if duly authorized by vote of the town, may petition the supreme judicial court to compel said company to resume the use of such track and to perform all its corporate duties relating thereto. Such petition shall set forth the facts upon which the petitioner relies and the relief sought, but shall not be defeated for informality, and may be amended at any stage; and said court shall have jurisdiction in equity to determine the cause and enforce its decrees and orders relative thereto. Upon the filing of any such petition said court shall order due notice to be served upon the company and shall advance the cause to a speedy hearing and final decision. In case the track, the use of which has been discontinued, is located in two or more cities or towns, any or all of such cities or towns, acting by the officials above named and authorized as hereinbefore provided, may join in such petition. This section shall not be deemed a legislative construction of any existing law or an impairment of any existing right of a company to discontinue the use of tracks.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 161 - Street Railways › Section 88 - Liability of Municipality for Alteration or Discontinuance of Public Way

Section 88. A city or a town which, for any lawful purpose, takes up, alters or discontinues public ways in which the tracks of a company are located, shall not be liable in damages therefor to said company.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 161 - Street Railways › Section 89 - Opening Way or Bridge to Make Repairs; Liability for Loss or Injury

Section 89. A company shall not be required to keep any portion of the surface material of public ways and bridges in repair, but it shall remain subject to all legal obligations imposed in original grants of locations, and may, as incident to its corporate franchise, and without being subject to the payment of any fee or to any other condition precedent, open any such way or bridge in which any part of its railway is located, in order to make repairs or renewals of the railway, or of any part thereof, and the superintendent of streets or other officer exercising like authority, or the board of aldermen or selectmen shall issue the necessary permits therefor in a city or town where such are required. If, during the original construction or subsequent alteration or extension or the making of any such repairs or renewals of any railway or a portion thereof, said surface material is disturbed, the company which owns or operates such railway shall, at its own cost, except as provided in sections seventy-one and eighty-two, replace to the reasonable satisfaction of the said superintendent, or other officer, said surface material with the same form of construction as that which was disturbed, or, by first obtaining the approval thereof by such officer, with a different material and form of construction, and shall restore said way or bridge to as good condition as existed at the time of such disturbance. Such company shall be liable for any loss or injury sustained by any person in the management and use of its tracks and during the construction, alteration, extension, repair or renewal of its railway, or while replacing the surface of any way disturbed as aforesaid, and resulting from the carelessness, neglect or misconduct of its agents or servants who are engaged in the prosecution of such work, if notice of such loss or injury is given to the company and an action therefor is commenced in the manner provided by section eighteen of chapter eighty-four. This section shall not affect the obligations of any company in respect of the construction or maintenance of any bridge or part thereof which any private person or corporation may be liable, in whole or in part, to construct or maintain.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 161 - Street Railways › Section 90 - Liability of Municipality; Recovery From Railway

Section 90. If, upon the trial of an action against the commonwealth, a city, town, railroad corporation or bridge corporation, the plaintiff recovers damages for an injury to his person or property caused by reason of a defect in a public way or bridge occupied by the tracks of a company, and such company is liable for such damages under the preceding section, and has had reasonable notice to defend the action, the commonwealth, city, town, railroad corporation or bridge corporation may recover the damages, and all the costs of both plaintiff and defendant in the action from said company.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 161 - Street Railways › Section 91 - Guards and Railings on Bridges

Section 91. Every company shall, in a manner satisfactory to the department, erect and maintain guards or railings upon every bridge, or draw of a bridge, crossed by its tracks, to prevent its cars from running off. If, for sixty days after service on it of an order of the department relative to such guards or railings, it fails to comply therewith, it shall, for each month of such failure subsequent to said sixty days, forfeit two hundred dollars, to the use of the city or town.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 161 - Street Railways › Section 92 - Stopping at Railroad Crossings

Section 92. If a street railway crosses at the same level a steam railroad where locomotive engines are in daily use, every motorman of a car upon the street railway shall, when approaching the point of intersection, stop his car within one hundred feet of the crossing; but the department may, for such term and under such restrictions as it may from time to time prescribe, modify or suspend the requirements of this section with respect to any such crossing by a street railway of a railroad built for private use under section two hundred and forty-five of chapter one hundred and sixty, or of a branch, spur or siding of a railroad built or used only for the transportation of freight to the premises of manufacturing or other industrial plants. For each violation of this section, the motorman shall forfeit ten dollars, and the company employing him shall forfeit twenty dollars.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 161 - Street Railways › Section 93 - Warning of Approach of Street Car

Section 93. The board of aldermen or the selectmen may, subject to the approval of the department, establish such regulations, requiring the motorman or conductor to give notice or warning of the approach of street cars, as they deem will best secure the unobstructed use of the tracks and the free passage of the cars.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 161 - Street Railways › Section 94 - Obstruction of Tracks

Section 94. Whoever wilfully obstructs a company or the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority in the legal use of a railway track, or delays the passing of its cars thereon, or wilfully obstructs a company or the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority in the legal use of a public way by a trackless trolley vehicle, or delays the passing of its trackless trolley vehicles thereon, or aids or abets in such obstruction or delay, shall be punished by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars or by imprisonment for not more than three months. Whoever commits any of said acts in such a manner as to endanger the life or safety of persons conveyed in or upon said cars, or trackless trolley vehicles, or aids or abets therein, shall be punished by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars or by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than ten years.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 161 - Street Railways › Section 94a - Littering Public Transportation Facilities; Penalty

Section 94A. Whoever places or throws filth, rubbish or any other substance within a station, waiting room, or terminal of a public transportation facility, or upon the platform, stairs, grounds or on other premises of a public transportation facility, after having been forbidden to do so either by notice posted thereon, or by the person who has the lawful control of said premises, or by a railroad, railway, or railway express officer or by any police officer, shall be punished by a fine of not more than twenty-five dollars and may be arrested without a warrant by such officer and kept in a convenient place, not more than twenty-four hours Sundays and legal holidays excepted, at or before the expiration of which he shall be taken before a proper court or magistrate and proceeded against according to law.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 161 - Street Railways › Section 95 - Loitering

Section 95. Whoever without right enters, remains in or loiters within a station, waiting room, or terminal of a public transportation facility, or upon the platform, stairs, grounds or other premises of a public transportation facility, after having been forbidden so to do either by notice posted thereon, or by the person who has the lawful control of said premises, or by a railroad, railway or railway express officer or by any police officer, shall be punished by a fine of not more than one hundred dollars and may be arrested without a warrant by such officer and kept in custody in a convenient place, not more than twenty-four hours, Sundays and legal holidays excepted, at or before the expiration of which time he shall be taken before a proper court or magistrate and proceeded against according to law.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 161 - Street Railways › Section 96 - Obstruction of Ways and Bridges by Railway; Penalty

Section 96. If a company, its agents or servants, wilfully or negligently obstructs a public way or bridge, or hinders the passing of vehicles over the same, or wilfully detains the cars of another company having the lawful right to pass thereon, such company shall be punished by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars; and any such agent or servant shall be punished by a fine of not more than ten dollars or by imprisonment for not more than three months.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 161 - Street Railways › Section 97 - Children Selling Newspapers on Railway Cars; Penalty

Section 97. If a company, its agent or servant, allows a child under ten years to enter upon or into any of its cars for the purpose of selling newspapers or other articles therein or offering them for sale, it shall forfeit fifty dollars, to be recovered by any person by an action brought within three months after the offence has been committed.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 161 - Street Railways › Section 98 - Safety Devices for Cars and Station Platforms

Section 98. A company shall equip its cars, when in use, with such headlights, fenders, wheel guards, brakes, and other safety devices, and shall provide such protection, human or otherwise, at its station platforms, as may be required from time to time by the department.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 161 - Street Railways › Section 99 - Emergency Tools and Lifting Jack

Section 99. All street railway cars operated in the commonwealth shall be equipped with an emergency lifting jack and with such other emergency tools as may be approved by the department. Any company, its officers or employees, operating a street railway car in the use of which this section is violated, shall be punished by a fine of not less than fifty nor more than one hundred dollars.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 161 - Street Railways › Section 100 - Heating Railway Cars

Section 100. The department shall require every street railway company to heat its cars, when in use for the transportation of passengers, at such times, by such means, and to such extent, as the department shall determine, and the company shall forfeit twenty-five dollars for each trip run by any of its cars not so heated, except in case of accident to the heating process or apparatus, or other unavoidable cause. The state police shall cause this section to be enforced.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 161 - Street Railways › Section 101 - Enclosure of Platforms During Winter Months

Section 101. Every street car in use for the transportation of passengers in December, January, February and March, which, while in motion, requires the constant care or service of an employee upon its platforms or upon one of them, shall have said platforms enclosed in such manner as to protect the motormen, conductors or other employees operating such car from exposure to wind and weather in such manner as the department shall approve.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 161 - Street Railways › Section 103 - Hours of Employment per Day; Penalty

Section 103. A day's work for all conductors, guards, drivers, motormen, brakemen, dispatchers and gatemen employed by or on behalf of a street railway or elevated railway company shall not exceed nine hours, and shall be so arranged by the employer that it shall be performed within eleven consecutive hours. No officer or agent of any such company shall require from said employees more than nine hours' work for a day's labor. Threat of loss of employment or threat to obstruct or prevent the obtaining of employment by the employees, or threat to refrain from employing any employee in the future shall be considered ''requiring'', within the meaning of this section. But this section shall not prevent an employee of the character mentioned herein, if he so desires, from working more hours than those prescribed herein for extra compensation. A company violating any provision of this section shall forfeit not less than one hundred nor more than five hundred dollars.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 161 - Street Railways › Section 104 - Reasonable Accommodations for Passengers

Section 104. Every company shall furnish reasonable accommodations for the conveyance of passengers, and for every wilful neglect to provide such accommodations shall forfeit not less than five nor more than twenty dollars; and may establish the rates of fare for all passengers and property conveyed or transported in its cars, subject to the limitations of its charter or other provisions of law.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 161 - Street Railways › Section 105 - Additional Passenger Accommodations

Section 105. If the department deems additional accommodations including waiting rooms, stations, water closets and other sanitary conveniences for the traveling public are required upon any street railway, it may, after due notice to the company and a hearing, make an order for such additional accommodations, and may alter, renew or revoke the order. A company which, for more than one week after receiving written notice of such order, fails to comply therewith, shall forfeit to the use of the city or town where such additional accommodations are to be used, or if they are to be used in more than one city or town, to the use equally of such cities or towns, one hundred dollars for each day thereafter during which such failure continues.