Massachusetts Statutes

Section 171. A corporation which violates any provision of the two preceding sections shall forfeit not less than one hundred nor more than three hundred dollars for every locomotive used by it in violation thereof, and a further sum of five dollars for each day upon which such l…

Section 172. Every railroad corporation shall furnish reasonable accommodations for the convenience and safety of passengers; and for every wilful neglect to provide the same shall forfeit not less than five nor more than twenty dollars.

Section 172A. Every railroad corporation shall equip each locomotive used by railroad crewmen with pure refrigerated drinking water with individual, disposable cups; maintain toilet facilities on locomotives or cabooses, if cabooses are used, in a working sanitary condition; and …

Section 173. A railroad corporation shall not require women or children to ride in smoking cars. For a violation of this section the corporation, or any officer or employee thereof, shall be punished by a fine of not less than ten nor more than fifty dollars.

Section 174. Every railroad car, except private cars, sleeping cars, dining cars, parlor cars, and the smoking, buffet and observation cars used in connection with the same, while in use for the transportation of passengers, upon a train running thirty miles or more, shall be pro…

Section 175. Violations of the preceding section shall be punished by a fine of not less than twenty-five dollars for each trip made by a car used for transporting passengers and not provided with water and utensils for its distribution in accordance with the preceding section.

Section 176. The department may require a railroad corporation to equip its cars with such other appliances as, in the judgment of the department, are necessary for the further protection of life in all passenger trains used in the commonwealth.

Section 176A. Every railroad corporation shall equip each of its track motor cars operated between points in the commonwealth during the period from thirty minutes before sunset to thirty minutes after sunrise on the day next following with an electric headlight of sufficient can…

Section 177. Every railroad corporation shall provide a uniform hat or cap and distinguishing badge, which shall be worn by all its employees whose duties relate immediately to the transportation of passengers or their baggage. A corporation neglecting to provide such uniform hat…

Section 178. A railroad corporation shall not employ any person or keep him in its employ in a position requiring the employee to distinguish form or color signals, unless he has been examined for color blindness or other defective sight by a competent person employed by the corp…

Section 179. No person shall act as a locomotive engineer unless he has been employed two years as a locomotive fireman or as an engineer's helper, or was employed as a locomotive engineer before June tenth, nineteen hundred and eleven.

Section 18. The directors shall prepare a map of the route on an appropriate scale, with a profile thereof on a vertical scale of ten to one as compared with the horizontal scale, and shall procure the report of a competent engineer, based on actual examination and survey, showin…

Section 180. No person shall act as a conductor on a railroad train unless he has been employed as a brakeman for two years, or was employed as a conductor on a railroad train before June tenth, nineteen hundred and eleven.

Section 181. No person shall knowingly engage, promote, require, persuade, prevail upon, or cause any person to act in violation of either of the two preceding sections.

Section 182. The three preceding sections shall not apply to the operating of locomotive engines by engine hostlers in or around engine houses, or to any railroad other than a standard gauge railroad. In the event of the disability of an engineer or conductor on the road, railroa…

Section 183. Any violation of any provision of the four preceding sections shall be punished by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars or imprisonment for not more than one year, or both, and each day's violation shall constitute a separate offence.

Section 184. Every person employed as signalman, towerman, leverman, agent, train dispatcher, telegrapher or telephone operator in a railroad signal tower or railroad station, and every other person employed by a railroad in the operating of trains by the use of the telegraph, te…

Section 185. Whenever the department is of opinion, after a hearing had upon its own motion or upon complaint, that the number of men forming a train crew of any train is not sufficient to operate said train for the safety of the public and the employees of the railroad, it shall…

Section 186. A railroad corporation may establish for its sole benefit fares, tolls and charges upon all passengers and property conveyed or transported on its railroad, at such rates as may be determined by its directors, and may from time to time by its directors regulate the u…

Section 187. A railroad corporation may make contracts for the conveyance of passengers upon designated trains for a specific distance at fixed times, at such reduced rates of fare as the parties may agree upon. Tickets may be issued for such passengers, upon which shall be plain…

Section 188. A railroad corporation shall not demand or receive for any single ticket bought or fare paid on a train or elsewhere than at its ticket offices more than ten cents in excess of the tariff rates charged at its ticket offices. When such excess is received, the conducto…

Section 189. Every railroad corporation issuing mileage tickets shall, upon presentation of such a ticket by a passenger, detach therefrom one coupon and no more for each mile and fraction thereof actually traveled; provided, that for distances less than three miles three coupons…

Section 19. The directors shall submit said map and report to the board of aldermen of every city and to the selectmen of every town named in the agreement of association, who shall thereupon appoint a time and place for a hearing, of which notice shall be given by publication in…

Section 190. Every railroad corporation having a terminus in Boston, except the Boston, Revere Beach and Lynn Railroad Company, shall sell a commutation ticket good for not more than twelve rides between Boston and each station on its lines within fifteen miles of its terminal st…

Section 191. All railroads issuing season tickets between points within the commonwealth shall, at the request and on the presentation of a season ticket by the holder thereof, place the same on deposit for not less than one week and reissue the ticket at the request of the owner…

Section 192. All railroads issuing season tickets between points within the commonwealth shall, at the request of a holder of a season ticket, reimburse said holder for the cost of the fares paid by said holder between the stations named on the ticket whenever said holder fails t…

Section 193. Every railroad corporation shall sell to an express messenger or to a person conducting a local express business, as provided in section two hundred and six, in its trains or cars within the commonwealth, a season ticket for his personal transportation, at a price no…

Section 194. Every railroad corporation shall, upon request, give checks to passengers for their baggage when delivered for transportation, and shall re-deliver the baggage to the passengers upon the surrender of such checks. A corporation violating this section shall forfeit ten…

Section 195. No charge shall be made by railroad corporations for the care or storage of baggage left at or arriving in railroad stations upon Friday, for the period of time between Friday and twelve o'clock noon of the following Monday.

Section 196. A railroad corporation which owns or operates a railroad of standard gauge shall check and transport between stations within the limits of the commonwealth, as baggage, and subject to the same charges, terms and liabilities as other baggage, one bicycle for each pass…

Section 197. Every railroad corporation having a terminus in Boston shall, upon the application of two hundred or more persons therefor, furnish on each week day a morning train in and an evening train out for distances not exceeding fifteen miles, or suitable cars attached to ot…

Section 198. Every railroad corporation having a terminus in Boston shall furnish such number of workingmen's trains, not less than two each way, as the department, upon a petition for such trains filed with it, shall in each case order. Such trains shall arrive at Boston between…

Section 198A. Whoever, except a person authorized so to do by the railroad corporation issuing the same, or a bona fide passenger in actual transit, sells or offers for sale any railroad ticket or portion of such a ticket entitling the holder or any specified person or persons to…

Section 198B. Whoever shall engage in the business of purchasing, selling or re-selling railroad tickets, railroad ticket coupons or other evidences of a right to ride on a railroad, or parts of such tickets, coupons or other evidences, or shall purchase, sell, re-sell, barter, o…

Section 199. Any person who, being governor, lieutenant governor, member of the council, member or member-elect of the general court, justice of the supreme judicial court, justice of the superior court, judge of probate, justice of a district court or a county commissioner, who …

Section 2. The duties imposed by this chapter upon county commissioners as a tribunal of original jurisdiction relative to the fixing of routes or to the location, construction, maintenance and operation of railroads shall, in Boston, unless it is otherwise expressly provided, de…

Section 20. If the board of aldermen of a city or the selectmen of a town named in the agreement of association, after such notice, exhibition of the map and the hearing, agree with the directors as to the said route or as to any route of the railroad in said city or town, they s…

Section 200. Railroad corporations may issue passes for free transportation to former employees who have been injured in the service of the corporation issuing the pass. The pass shall state the nature of the injury, shall not be transferable, and shall be forfeited if used, or a…

Section 201. Every railroad corporation shall, upon request of the postmaster general or of an authorized agent of the post office department, carry the mails at such times and upon such trains as may be desired by him upon the terms provided in the two following sections.

Section 202. A corporation which cannot agree with the postmaster general or other proper officer of the United States as to the compensation to be paid for such transportation may notify the postmaster general of its unwillingness to carry the mails upon the terms proposed; and …

Section 203. Upon application to said court by either party to such proceedings at any time after the expiration of two years from the confirmation of such award, the matter may be reopened, and the same or other commissioners shall rehear the parties, and the award of said commi…

Section 204. A railroad corporation shall, upon request, without additional charge, give a receipt describing articles, packages or commodities not extra hazardous delivered to it for transportation. A corporation which refuses to give such receipt shall forfeit fifty dollars to …

Section 205. Every railroad corporation shall, subject to the provisions of section two hundred and eleven, give to all persons reasonable and equal terms, facilities and accommodations for the transportation upon its railroad of themselves, their agents and servants, and of thei…

Section 206. The preceding section shall apply to all persons engaged only in a local express business for the forwarding of express matter between points within the commonwealth in the trains or cars of any railroad corporation, and to persons desiring to engage therein who obta…

Section 207. Every railroad corporation shall promptly forward merchandise consigned to or directed to be sent over another railroad connecting with its railroad, according to the directions contained thereon or accompanying the same, and shall not receive and forward over its ra…

Section 208. A railroad corporation shall not charge or receive for the transportation of freight to any station on its railroad a greater amount than is at the time charged or received for the transportation of the like class and quantity of freight from the same original point …