Massachusetts. Board of Railroad Commissioners

The Board of Railroad Commissioners was established in 1869. The board assumed additional functions of the Highway Commission and became the Public Service Commission in 1913.

The Board of Railroad Commissioners was established in 1869. The board assumed the additional functions of the Highway Commission and became the Public Service Commission in 1913.

St 1869, c 408 established a Board of Railroad Commissioners vested with general supervision over steam, horse-drawn, or other railroads. Prior to this time the General Court had twice created and then disbanded boards with some limited responsibilities over railroads: a board of five commissioners established by St 1845, c 252 to hear petitions for chartering railroads and to forward reports concerning these petitions to the General Court, abolished by St 1846, c 190; and a board of three commissioners to supervise the construction of turnpike crossings and related gates by railroads established by St 1864, c 152, abolished by St 1865, c 239.

Under the 1869 law, steam, horse-drawn, and other railroads were required to furnish any information required by the board. In addition the board was responsible for notifying railroads that failed to comply with the terms of their charters or with laws of the Commonwealth; making recommendations to railroads concerning repairs, improvements, and adjustments in rates; hearing and investigating complaints of towns or groups of citizens regarding railroad operations; making examinations of complaints; and investigating railroad accidents resulting in personal injury or loss of life. St 1874, c 29 extended the board's powers in similar fashion to street railway corporations.

A General Railroad Act (St 1873, c 372) recodified the board's duties, prescribed the manner of forming railroad corporations subject to the board's approval, and gave the board additional powers of reporting uncorrected violations of laws or charters to the state attorney-general and arbitrating routes disputed between railroads and towns. The board acquired the power to prescribe the form and examine the content of railroads accounts (St 1876, c 185), and to appoint inspectors of machinery, cars, and tracks, and make subsequent recommendations (St 1894, c 535). In another recodification (St 1906, c 462), the board's authority was extended over steamship lines serving as common carriers, and, on complaint, over express companies doing business on railroads or street railways. Its approval was required for the lease, sale, or consolidation of railroads and street railways. Per St 1911, c 755, the board's powers to adjust rates and effect changes in equipment or services of common carriers were strengthened. Per St 1913, c 784, the board assumed additional functions of the Highway Commission relating to electric transmission of intelligence (i.e., telephone and telegraph companies), and was renamed the Public Service Commission, which see.

NAME AUTHORITY NOTE. Series relating to the agency described above can be found by searching the following access point for the time period stated: 1869-1913--Massachusetts. Board of Railroad Commissioners.