Title 48, PUBLIC UTILITIES

48:12-33. Connecting roads by branches Whenever the roads of any railroad companies shall intersect or cross or approach each other within a distance of one mile, either company may construct and operate a branch connecting such roads and acquire land and property necessary for t…

48:12-34. Connection between railroad and street railway Any railroad company and any street railway company whose lines intersect may make a physical connection of their tracks to enable the cars of the one to run on the tracks of the other, upon obtaining the certificate of the…

48:12-35.1 Authority and extent of condemnation. 60. Any railroad utility incorporated in this State or in any other state and operating in New Jersey may exercise the power of eminent domain as provided herein in taking: (a) any land and property required for the right-of-way of…

48:12-36. Crossing another railroad; required grade angle No railroad company shall cross another railroad at grade at a less angle than 20 degrees, but a railroad may be located upon the surveyed route or location of any other railroad company with the consent of such other comp…

48:12-37. Relocating route before construction Any portion of the route of a railroad company may be relocated before construction and after filing of the original survey, by filing and recording an amended survey thereof in the same manner as the original survey.

48:12-38. Change of location of route to avoid physical obstacles Any railroad company may change the location of a part of its route for any section not exceeding one mile in length by filing and recording a survey of the new location and of the section abandoned with the secret…

48:12-39. Straightening, shortening or improving road; condemning land Any railroad company may straighten, shorten or improve its road or connect points thereon by shorter lines or branches upon filing and recording a survey of the straightened, shortened or improved line in the…

48:12-4. Time for discharging duty or exercising privilege; effect of restraint by court When a railroad company is restrained by any court from the discharge of a duty imposed upon it or the exercise of a privilege which it is authorized to exercise and there is a limited time w…

48:12-40. Abandonment of part of line; repaying of deposit; new survey Any railroad company prior to the operation of any trains may abandon any part of its line before the same shall have been wholly completed upon filing and recording in the office of the Secretary of State a c…

48:12-40.1. Cautionary boards not connected with automatic block signal system Every railroad company operating freight or passenger trains or engines or cars in this State, over or upon any tracks, or on any bridges or other structures carrying tracks of the kind commonly known …

48:12-40.2. Violations Any violation of this act by any railroad company shall constitute a misdemeanor and shall be punishable by a fine of not less than five hundred dollars ($500.00) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000.00). In the event that any such violation continues…

48:12-41. Construction and maintenance; draws; land under water belonging to state Any railroad company may build and maintain over such streams as its roads may cross, such piers and bridges as it may deem expedient, and may build viaducts over or tunnels under any navigable or …

48:12-42. Draws; lights and attendants; penalty for neglect When such river, stream or bay is navigable, the company shall, for the safety of persons navigating the same, maintain a red light at each outer side and a white light at each inner side of said draws, which shall be ke…

48:12-43. Bridge over shallow tidal waters; necessity of draw; determination of department of conservation and economic development Where a railroad is constructed across a stream where the tide ebbs and flows and by reason of the narrowness of the stream or shallowness of water …

48:12-44. Bridges over Delaware river; condemnation; taking lands of state Where the line of any railroad company of this State is constructed to the Delaware river, such company may extend such line, with as many tracks as it shall deem necessary, by means of a bridge and its ap…

48:12-45. Tunnel under interstate waters; manner of constructing; changing sewers Any railroad company organized under the laws of this State whose route lies in part under the bed of waters of an interstate river or other interstate waters may build its railroad under the same b…

48:12-46. Duty to erect and maintain; liability Every railroad company shall erect and maintain fences on the sides of its road of the height and strength of division fences required by law, with gates or barways at farm crossings. Every such company shall also construct and main…

48:12-47. Penalty for driving animals on tracks Any person who shall ride, lead or drive any cattle, horses or other animals upon any railroad protected by fences and guards as required by section 48:12-46 of this title and within such fences and guards elsewhere than at farm cro…

48:12-48. Speed of trains through cities where fence, embankment or cut is maintained Where any railroad company in any city shall maintain along its roadway where the same adjoins a public highway, a fence or embankment four feet high and sufficiently close and strong to prevent…

48:12-49. Bridges and passages at street and road crossings; private ways and cattle guards Every railroad company owning, leasing or controlling any right of way for a railroad within this state shall construct and keep in repair good and sufficient bridges and passages over, un…

48:12-49.1. Construction of bridges or passages; installation of protective devices; division of expenses The railroad company or companies involved shall pay 15% and the Department of Transportation, out of funds to be provided for that purpose, shall pay 85% of the entire expen…

48:12-50. Piers to support bridges over streets or highways Where a railroad is constructed above the grade of any street or highway in any city or town by a bridge the company may erect piers for the support and safety of the bridge. The piers may be located at the outer edge of…

48:12-51. Highways over or under railroad; condemnation of lands for embankment or cutting When the tracks of a railroad company shall cross a highway, such highway may be carried under or over the tracks as may be found expedient. Where an embankment or cutting shall make a chan…

48:12-52. Failure to construct and maintain bridges and crossings; procedure by county or municipality When a railroad company shall not properly construct and maintain the bridges or other crossings which cross, or are crossed by, highways, whenever the bridges or crossings were…

48:12-53. Construction of tracks along city streets; elevated roads; contracts The municipal authorities of any city except a city of the first class may permit any railroad company to lay and construct its tracks along and upon any street or highway or above the street or highwa…

48:12-54. Protections at grade crossings; group signals Every company operating on a fixed track or tracks, freight or passenger trains or cars, shall provide protection to pedestrians and the traveling public at every crossing of its tracks by any public road. Such protection ma…

48:12-55. Compelling proper protection of grade crossing The Board of Public Utility Commissioners, upon its own initiative or upon the application of any municipality or citizen dissatisfied with the protection provided or the failure to provide any or sufficient protection at a…

48:12-56. Enforcement; penalty; construction The provisions of sections 48:12-54 and 48:12-55 of this title shall be enforced by the board of public utility commissioners in the manner provided by chapter 2 of this title (s. 48:2-1 et seq.). Violation of the provisions of section…

48:12-57 Safety measure for locomotives; penalties; "supplementary safety measure" defined; limitations. 48:12-57. a. Every railroad company shall place on each engine a bell weighing not less than 30 pounds which shall be rung continuously in approaching a grade crossing of a hi…

48:12-57.1 Pilot demonstration program for supplementary safety measures. 2. The Commissioner of Transportation may immediately proceed with a pilot demonstration program implementing the use of potential supplementary safety measures, in anticipation of the adoption of federal r…

48:12-58. Warning signs at grade crossings Every railroad company shall install and maintain at each highway crossing at grade a conspicuous sign with such inscription and of such standard and design as shall be approved by the Board of Public Utility Commissioners, so as to be e…

48:12-58.1. Abandonment of line and grade crossings; notice; substitution of abandoned grade crossing sign for warning sign Whenever a railroad company has discontinued or discontinues all traffic on any line or part thereof, and has abandoned or abandons the use of such line and…

48:12-59. Protection of electrified third rail at grade crossings Any company operating a railroad in this state on which the cars are operated by electric current by means of a third rail at or near grade, shall securely cover said rail with wood or other nonconducting material …

48:12-60. Failure to protect electrified third rail; penalty; negligence per se Any company violating section 48:12-59 of this title shall be subject to a penalty of five hundred dollars and costs for each offense, to be recovered by any citizen of this state who may sue for the …

48:12-61. Authority of board of public utility commissioners; manner of elimination Whenever a public highway, other than a state highway and the tracks of a railroad, or of more than one railroad whose rights of way adjoin or are in such close proximity to each other as to be ne…

48:12-62. Division of expenses The railroad company or companies involved shall pay 15% and the board, out of funds to be provided for that purpose, shall pay 85% of the entire expense of such alterations, reconstructions, changes, relocation or opening, including damages to adja…

48:12-63. Expense of change in or removal of public utility property or facilities; hearing Where the order of the board shall require changes in or the removal of the property or facilities of any other public utility, the public utility shall at its own expense move or change t…

48:12-64. Petition for removal of grade crossing; hearing; notice; determination Any railroad company or companies whose tracks cross or are crossed at grade by a public highway, or the body having charge of the finances of any municipality or county having jurisdiction over any …

48:12-65. Notice of hearing; publication; contents The notice of time and place of hearing required by section 48:12-64 of this Title may, except as to the municipality or county and the railroad company or companies interested in the hearing, be given by publication of a notice …

48:12-66. Powers vested in board of public utility commissioners and courts All the powers, supervision, regulation of, jurisdiction and control over public utilities granted by chapter 2 of this title (s. 48:2-1 et seq.) are hereby vested in the board of public utility commissio…

48:12-67. Changes or alterations ordered prior to April 14, 1930 Sections 48:12-61 to 48:12-66 of this title shall apply to any alterations, changes, relocations or openings ordered by the board of public utility commissioners prior to April fourteenth, one thousand nine hundred …

48:12-67.1. Application of sections 48:12-61 to 48:12-66 Sections 48:12-61 to 48:12-66 of the Revised Statutes shall apply to all alterations, reconstructions, changes, relocations or openings ordered by the Board of Public Utility Commissioners, after the effective date of this …

48:12-68. Annual program by state highway department; maximum yearly expenditure The State Highway Department, before January 1 of each year, shall formulate a program, covering the work to be started or completed during the ensuing year, for the elimination of railroad crossings…

48:12-69. Railroad companies to be furnished annual program; co-operation required The State Highway Department shall furnish the annual program to every company owning or operating a railroad which is called upon to perform work under the program. Every such railroad company sha…

48:12-70. Division of cost between railroads and Highway Department The cost of the work to be shared by railroad companies and the State Highway Department provided for in any annual program, exclusive of the cost of the surface paving on roadways and the curbing, sidewalk pavin…

48:12-71. Agreement for division of cost The State Highway Department and any railroad company or companies may enter into an agreement on the basis of the division of the cost, as provided by section 48:12-70 of this Title, covering the work in the annual program, or the elimina…