Title Minnesota Statutes, Minnesota Statutes

219.39 DANGEROUS CROSSING; COMPLAINT, HEARING. Upon written complaint authorized by the governing body of a city or county, by the board of supervisors of a town, or by authorized officers of a subject railroad, alleging that a railroad crossing a street, road, or highway in the …

219.40 DANGEROUS CROSSING DETERMINATION PROCEDURES AND REMEDIES. § Subdivision 1.Commissioner determination. (a) If a complaint is made under section 219.39, the commissioner of transportation shall determine, after investigation by the commissioner or after hearing, whether the …

219.402 ADEQUATE CROSSING PROTECTION. Crossing warning devices or improvements installed or maintained under this chapter as approved by the commissioner or any predecessor, whether by order or otherwise, are adequate and appropriate warning for the crossing. History: 1985 c 265 …

219.403 APPLICABILITY TO LOCAL LAWS. Nothing in this section or section 161.20, 219.40, or 219.071 changes existing law relating to the rights and liabilities of a city, town, or county in connection with the construction or maintenance of a railroad crossing, grade separation, o…

219.41 APPEAL; ORDER ENFORCEMENT. A railroad company or the city, town, or county making the complaint may appeal from an order of the commissioner of transportation to the district court of the county in which the crossing is located. The same appeal proceedings must be held as …

219.42 FAILURE TO COMPLY; PENALTY. A railroad company or city, town, or county failing to comply with an order of the commissioner of transportation that is not appealed from or, if appealed from, affirmed in whole or in part, is liable to a penalty of $50 for every day of noncom…

219.44 CHARTER POWERS NOT ABRIDGED. Nothing in sections 219.39 to 219.44 repeals, abridges, modifies, or affects the power contained in the charter of a city to require railroads to maintain gates, flaggers, or safety devices at public highway crossings in that city, or any ordin…

219.445 SOUTHERN RAIL CORRIDOR IMPROVEMENT PLAN. § Subdivision 1.Corridor development. The commissioner of transportation shall develop a corridor improvement plan for grade crossings intersecting or crossing the railway right-of-way in the railway corridor that runs east to west…

219.45 APPLICABILITY. Sections 219.45 to 219.53 apply to a person, corporation, or anyone owning, operating, or maintaining a structure or obstruction adjacent to railway tracks and to a corporation, receiver of the corporation, or any person while engaged as a common carrier in …

219.455 DEFINITIONS. (a) For purposes of sections 219.45 to 219.53, the following terms have the meanings given. (b) "Depot company" means a company formed to construct and operate a passenger station on behalf of a railroad or rail carrier. (c) "Passenger service" means both int…

219.46 UNLAWFUL STRUCTURE; CLEARANCE. § Subdivision 1.Structure. (a) On and after April 16, 1913, it is unlawful for a common carrier or any other person, on a standard gauge road on its line or a standard gauge sidetrack, for use in any traffic mentioned in section 219.45: (1) t…

219.47 CLEARANCE EXCEPTIONS. § Subdivision 1.Permanent. The commissioner of transportation, upon application made, after a thorough investigation, may permit a common carrier, person, or corporation to which sections 219.45 to 219.53 apply, to erect an overhead or side obstructio…

219.50 OBSTRUCTING SPACE BETWEEN TRACKS. It is unlawful for a common carrier, person, or corporation subject to sections 219.45 to 219.53 to permit the space between or beside tracks that is ordinarily used by employees in the discharge of their duties and is within 8-1/2 feet of…

219.501 RAIL CARRIER WALKWAYS. § Subdivision 1.Duty to provide walkways. (a) Rail carriers must provide walkways adjacent to those portions of yard tracks where rail carrier employees frequently work on the ground performing switching activities. For purposes of this section, "fr…

219.51 VIOLATIONS AND PENALTIES. § Subdivision 1.Violation. A common carrier, corporation, or person subject to sections 219.45 to 219.53 violating any of the provisions of those sections, is liable to a penalty of not more than $500 for each violation. § Subd. 2.Failure to corre…

219.52 WARNING SIGN; REPORTING CLEARANCE VIOLATIONS. If a structure is nearer the track than as provided by sections 219.45 to 219.53, the commissioner of transportation shall provide for warning signs to be placed on it of a design and type as the commissioner considers proper u…

219.53 CONTRIBUTORY NEGLIGENCE. (a) An employee of a common carrier who, while performing duties and engaged in any commerce mentioned in section 219.45, subject to the regulative provisions of sections 219.45 to 219.53, is injured or killed by reason of (1) a violation of sectio…

219.54 FREIGHT PLATFORM. (a) Within 30 days after written notice, served in the same manner as a summons in district court, from the governing body of a statutory city containing 250 inhabitants or more, a railroad company shall provide platforms at stations as required by the ci…

219.551 LOCOMOTIVE; WATER AND TOILET FACILITY. § Subdivision 1.Scope of definitions. As used in this section, the following words and phrases, unless a different meaning is plainly required, have the meanings given them. § Subd. 2.Initial terminal defined. "Initial terminal" mean…

219.561 TRACK MOTOR CAR; EQUIPMENT. § Subdivision 1.Lights. A person, firm, or corporation operating or controlling a railroad shall equip each of its track motor cars used during the period from 30 minutes before sunset to 30 minutes after sunrise with: (1) an electric headlight…

219.567 FAILURE TO RING BELL. An engineer driving a locomotive on a railway who fails to ring the bell or sound the whistle on the locomotive, or have it rung or sounded in accordance with Federal Railroad Administration regulations under United States Code, title 49, section 201…

219.568 OTHER VIOLATIONS OF DUTY. An engineer, conductor, brake tender, switch tender, train dispatcher, or other officer, agent, or servant of a railway company, who is guilty of a willful violation or omission of duty as an officer, agent, or servant, by which human life or saf…

219.57 PREVENTION OF FIRE. § Subdivision 1.Spark arrester. A company operating a railroad shall use upon each locomotive engine a good and efficient spark arrester, which the master mechanic shall have examined each time before leaving the roundhouse. The master mechanic and the …

219.64 ASSUMPTION OF RISK; CONTRIBUTORY NEGLIGENCE. An employee of a common carrier who is killed or injured due to improperly adjusted and filled frogs, switches, and guardrails or by a locomotive, tender, car, similar vehicle, or train in use contrary to federal or state railro…

219.661 SPEEDOMETER; LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS. The legislature finds that the safe operation of locomotives by common carriers by rail within the state requires that they be equipped with fully operable speedometers within view of the engineer or operator of the locomotive. History: …

219.662 SPEEDOMETER REQUIRED; REPORTS. § Subdivision 1.Requirement. No railroad locomotive may be operated without a speedometer or speed recorder functioning correctly within three miles per hour and within the view of the engineer or operator of the locomotive. § Subd. 2. MS 20…

219.752 MINIMUM CREW SIZE. § Subdivision 1.Class I or Class II railroad. A Class I railroad or Class II railroad must not operate a train or light engine used in connection with the movement of freight unless it has a crew of a minimum of two individuals. § Subd. 2.Class III rail…

219.753 CRANE ON TRACKS; DETECTOR; MISDEMEANOR. A crawler crane, a locomotive crane, or a truck crane, as defined in the definitions of occupational safety and health administration standards of the United States Department of Labor, which operates upon a railroad track and has a…

219.756 YARDMASTER HOURS OF SERVICE. § Subdivision 1.Definitions. (a) For purposes of this section, the following terms have the meanings given. (b) "Railroad" means a common carrier that is classified by federal law or regulation as a Class I railroad, Class II railroad, or Clas…

219.76 DAMAGE CAUSED BY TRAIN OR CONTENTS; INSURABLE INTEREST. A railroad operating in this state is responsible in damages to every person who is injured and public or private entity or person whose property is injured, damaged, or destroyed by fire spread directly or indirectly…

219.761 RESPONSE TO TRAIN-RELATED FIRE OR OTHER EMERGENCY; REIMBURSEMENT. § Subdivision 1.Reimbursement. (a) A railroad operating in Minnesota is liable for all reasonable expenses of a fire or other emergency that is proximately caused by a railroad locomotive, rolling stock or …

219.77 RAILROAD EMPLOYER LIABILITY. A company, person, or corporation, owning or operating as a common carrier or otherwise a steam railroad or railway in the state, is liable in damages to an employee suffering injury while engaged in that employment; or, in case of death of the…

219.79 CONTRIBUTORY NEGLIGENCE DOES NOT BAR RECOVERY. § Subdivision 1.When damages reduced. In an action brought against an employer under or by virtue of sections 219.77 to 219.83, to recover damages for death or personal injury of the employee, the fact that the employee may ha…

219.80 ASSUMPTION OF RISK NO DEFENSE. In an action brought against an employer under or by virtue of sections 219.77 to 219.83 to recover for injuries to or the death of an employee, the employee may not be held to have assumed the risk of the employment. History: (4936) 1915 c 1…

219.81 CONTRARY CONTRACT DECLARED VOID. Any contract, rule, or device whatever, the purpose or intent of which is to enable an employer to escape liability created by sections 219.77 to 219.83, is to that extent void. In an action brought against the employer under or by virtue o…

219.815 EMPLOYER INCLUDES RECEIVER. "Employer," as used in sections 219.77 to 219.83, includes a receiver or other person charged with the duty of management and operation of a business employing labor. History: (4938) 1915 c 187 s 6; 1985 c 265 art 4 s 1

219.82 SURVIVAL OF RIGHT OF ACTION. A right of action given by sections 219.77 to 219.83 to a person suffering injury survives to the personal representative for the benefit of the surviving spouse and children of the employee; and if none, then of the employee's parents; and if …

219.83 LIMITATION OF ACTION. No action may be maintained under sections 219.77 to 219.83 unless commenced within two years from the day the cause of action accrues. History: (4940) 1915 c 187 s 8; 1985 c 265 art 4 s 1

219.92 NEW ROAD. § Subdivision 1.Completion notice; filing. Before opening to public use a railroad branch, extension, or other railroad constructed by a railroad company, the company (1) shall notify the commissioner that it is finished, safe for operation, and in full complianc…

219.93 STOPPING TRAIN AT CROSSING. A company operating a railroad shall have all trains on the railroad come to a full stop not less than ten nor more than 60 rods before reaching a railroad junction or crossing at grade, unless stoppage is rendered unnecessary by an interlocking…

219.97 VIOLATIONS; PENALTIES. § Subdivision 1. [Repealed, 1980 c 460 s 32] § Subd. 2. [Repealed, 1980 c 460 s 32] § Subd. 3. [Repealed, 1980 c 460 s 32] § Subd. 4.Violation of grade crossing safety requirement. A person, firm, or corporation violating sections 219.16 to 219.30 is…

219.98 FEES FOR APPLYING FOR ORDER. A person other than the state, a state agency, or a political subdivision, who applies for an order of the commissioner of transportation relating to clearances under section 219.47, permitting the abandonment or removal of track, or permitting…

219.99 RAILROAD PRAIRIE RIGHT-OF-WAY; BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES. The commissioner of natural resources shall conduct a field review of railroad rights-of-way to identify native prairie. The priority will be to identify and conduct a field review of any surveys which have been con…

219.995 RAILROAD PEACE OFFICERS. § Subdivision 1.Chief law enforcement officer. A railroad that intends to employ railroad peace officers as defined in section 626.84, subdivision 1, paragraph (h), shall appoint a chief law enforcement officer to oversee and take responsibility f…

221.012 DEFINITIONS. § Subdivision 1.Scope. For the purposes of this chapter, the terms defined in this section have the meanings given them. § Subd. 2. [Repealed, 2009 c 64 s 57] § Subd. 3. [Repealed, 2009 c 64 s 57] § Subd. 4.Bulk commodity. "Bulk commodity" means a commodity t…

221.021 AGGRAVATED VIOLATIONS; SANCTIONS, HEARING. § Subdivision 1.Registration certificate or permit required. No person may operate as a motor carrier or advertise or otherwise hold out as a motor carrier without a certificate of registration or permit in effect. A certificate …