Massachusetts Statutes

Section 115. Any company, except the Boston Elevated Railway Company and the Eastern Massachusetts Street Railway Company, and the successors of either of the said companies, which accepts sections one hundred and fifteen to one hundred and twenty-eight, inclusive, as provided in…

Section 116. The cost of the service shall include operating expenses, taxes, rentals, interest on all indebtedness as hereinafter defined, dividends on preferred stock, an interest return at the rate of six per cent per annum upon the stock investment as determined by the depart…

Section 117. No company may accept sections one hundred and fifteen to one hundred and twenty-eight, inclusive, until it has provided a reserve fund of not less than six, nor more than twelve per cent, of the gross earnings of the preceding year, except as otherwise provided in t…

Section 118. Any company desiring to accept said sections shall, at the time of its application to the department to determine the amount of its stock investment, apply to it to determine the status of its then unfunded debt. The department shall thereupon disallow any amount the…

Section 119. Whenever the income of the company is insufficient to meet the cost of service as defined in section one hundred and sixteen, the reserve fund shall be used, so far as necessary, to make up the deficiency, but when the income exceeds the cost of the service, the exce…

Section 12. The business of every company shall be managed and conducted by a president, a board of not less than five directors, a clerk, a treasurer and such other officers and such agents as the company by its by-laws shall authorize.

Section 120. A company accepting said sections shall file with its acceptance a schedule of nine different grades of fare and of transfer privileges. One such grade it shall designate as the initial grade which it desires to establish and which will, in its opinion, enable it to …

Section 121. If, as of the last day of any March, June, September or December, the reserve fund shall exceed by thirty per cent or more the normal reserve fund, and during the three preceding months the income shall have exceeded the cost of the service, the company shall, within…

Section 122. The company shall provide an improvement fund of an amount required by the department but not exceeding five per cent of the capital investment. Such fund may be raised by the issue of bonds or stock or preferred stock. It shall be fully subscribed within sixty days …

Section 123. Any company accepting said sections shall be bound thereby to sell its entire property and franchises as a going concern to the commonwealth or to any city or town at any time for an amount in cash equal to the stock investment, and the amount of cash paid in for pre…

Section 124. The governor, with the advice and consent of the council, shall appoint for terms of three years each three persons to be members of the board of directors of any company which accepts said sections, of whom at least two shall be residents of a city or town served by…

Section 125. In order that the department may at all times be in a position to take such action as the public interest requires, the companies shall furnish it each month with such statements as it requires, showing the condition of the reserve fund, the income and expenditures o…

Section 126. Any company desiring to accept said sections shall apply to the department to determine the amount of its capital investment and of its stock investment, and upon such determination the company may accept said sections by filing with the department its election so to…

Section 127. The department may order any company accepting said sections to dispose of any property no longer of service to the company. Any loss thereby incurred it may, with the approval of the department, distribute over such period, not exceeding ten years, as the department…

Section 128. If a majority of the state directors of a company believe that a particular order or decision of the department would impair the ability of the company to pay the six per cent interest return on the stock investment as provided in section one hundred and sixteen, the…

Section 129. For the purpose of avoiding or abolishing a crossing of a railroad by the tracks of a street railway company at grade, the company may purchase or take by eminent domain under chapter seventy-nine land necessary therefor, not exceeding fifty feet in width, outside th…

Section 13. The directors shall be elected annually by the stockholders by ballot, and the president shall be elected annually by and from the board of directors, and the treasurer and the clerk annually by said board. Every director, unless the by-laws otherwise provide, shall b…

Section 130. A company, which has acquired land for such purpose, may construct its railway over or under a railroad, in the manner agreed upon by the companies, or, if they do not agree, in the manner prescribed by the department; but no overhead structure shall be built at a he…

Section 131. The board of aldermen of a city or the selectmen of a town, if a public way, and the department of highways, if a state highway, may authorize structures or alterations within, or partly within, the limits thereof, which are necessary for carrying a street railway ov…

Section 132. Upon the application of any company, authorized by a vote of two thirds of the shares present and voting at a meeting called therefor, the department may, after public notice and a hearing, authorize such company to change its name.

Section 133. A certified copy of such authorization and a certificate of the vote of the company, signed and sworn to by the president, treasurer and a majority of the directors, shall be filed in the office of the state secretary. The department shall require public notice to be…

Section 134. A company shall have the same rights, powers and privileges, and be subject to the same duties, obligations and liabilities, under its new name as before its name was changed, and may sue and be sued by its new name; but any action brought against it under its former…

Section 135. A receiver of the property of a company may, by order of the court, sell and transfer the railway and property of such company, its locations and franchises, on such terms and in such manner as the court orders. The purchasers from such receiver, and a company organi…

Section 136. The purchasers at such sale shall, with their associates, to the number of at least fifteen, within sixty days after such sale, organize a company for the purpose of holding, owning and operating the street railway purchased, by filing in the office of the state secr…

Section 137. The state secretary shall receive the agreement of association, and preserve it in form convenient for reference and open to public inspection, and shall issue a certificate of incorporation in the form authorized by section nine. Thereupon, the company shall organiz…

Section 138. The directors of every street railway company shall annually within the time prescribed by section thirty-two of chapter one hundred and fifty-nine transmit to the department a return of the company for the year ending on December thirty-first preceding which shall b…

Section 139. The department shall prepare tables and abstracts of the returns of the several companies, and may include in its annual report such of them as it deems expedient.

Section 14. There shall be an annual meeting of the stockholders, and the time and place of holding it, and the manner of conducting it, shall be fixed by the by-laws. All meetings of stockholders shall be held in the commonwealth, and shall be called, and notice thereof given, i…

Section 140. The lessee of a street railway shall make to the company which owns it the same annual return on oath of the operations and business of the railway as is required of the company which owns it; and, for failure so to do, shall be liable in tort to said company for all…

Section 141. Every state department and commission shall keep a record of its proceedings in any matter considered by it under any laws affecting street railways in which it shall enter every request, made by any party before it, for a ruling of law and of its action upon such re…

Section 142. The supreme judicial or superior court shall have jurisdiction in equity, on petition of a company, or of the board of aldermen of a city or the selectmen of a town where the street railway is located, or of any interested party, to compel the observance and to restr…

Section 143. A city or town may establish, or two or more cities or two or more towns, or two or more cities and towns, may unite for the purpose of establishing, transportation areas for the operation of freight or passenger service, or both, on street railways existing therein,…

Section 144. A city, by vote of its city council, subject to the provisions of its charter, or a town by vote of its board of selectmen, may make preliminary agreements with one or more companies operating within its territory for the lease or purchase and operation of the proper…

Section 145. Upon the acceptance of such a preliminary agreement by a majority in interest of all classes of stock in such a company entitled to vote, and approval by the department after a public hearing of which due notice shall be given, the agreement shall thereupon be bindin…

Section 146. The management and control of a transportation area shall be vested in a board of trustees of whom two shall be chosen by the mayor of each city concerned, with the approval of the city council, and two by the selectmen of each town concerned. The initial appointees …

Section 147. The board of trustees of a transportation area shall have full power to operate the street railway property leased or acquired thereby, or any equipment or facility otherwise acquired, or to lease or sublease the same, and to enter into contracts with private compani…

Section 148. At the first meeting of the said trustees, and at each annual meeting thereafter, they shall elect from their number a chairman, vice chairman, treasurer and a secretary who shall perform such duties as the trustees shall prescribe. The treasurer shall give a surety …

Section 149. Upon the request of the board of trustees of a transportation area established under this chapter the department shall take by eminent domain under chapter seventy-nine on behalf of such transportation area the whole property, or any part thereof, of a street railway…

Section 15. A special meeting of the stockholders shall be called, and a written notice thereof, stating the time, place and purpose of the meeting, given, by the clerk upon written application of three or more stockholders entitled to vote, holding at least one tenth part in int…

Section 150. The cities and towns comprising a transportation area shall contribute to the discharge of its liabilities and obligations on the basis of one third part according to the single track street railway and the bus or other mass transportation route mileage running in or…

Section 151. The financial year of a transportation area shall end on the last day of each calendar year. The cities and towns comprising the area shall, in proportion to their respective interests, as defined in the preceding section, contribute to make up any financial deficit …

Section 152. For the purpose of acquiring street railway property or other equipment or facility under sections one hundred and forty-three to one hundred and fifty-eight, inclusive, of operating the same, or of contributing toward the sums expended by the transportation area for…

Section 152A. Notwithstanding the provisions of section one hundred and fifty-one, the commonwealth, acting by and through the secretary of administration, may enter into a contract or contracts with the trustees of a transportation area created under the provisions of sections o…

Section 153. No extension of lines or trackage shall be made or additional equipment purchased by a transportation area without the consent of the department.

Section 154. The department may exclude from a transportation area any city or town, but such exclusion shall not prevent the operation of street railways in or through its territory. The department may also exclude any city or town or part thereof, the inclusion of which would, …

Section 155. The amount to be paid as rental under a lease of a street railway property shall not exceed seven per cent of the price fixed in any option to purchase the property. Rentals shall be paid to the owners of street railway property by a transportation area at least once…