Allentown & Coopersburg Turnpike Co. v. Lehigh Valley Traction Co.

Citations

• 174 Pa. 273
• 34 A. 565
• 1896 Pa. LEXIS 876

Syllabus

<p>Street Railways— Turnpike Companies — Damages.</p> <p>Under the act of May 14, 1889, P. L. 217, a turnpike company whose road has been occupied by the tracks of a street railway is entitled to recover from the street railway company compensation for the use and occupation of its road, and such compensation includes all injury done to the property which is the immediate and direct consequence of the occupation' and use. The damage is not measured by the additional cost of maintenance of the roadway only, but by the depreciation in value of the property as a whole resulting from the occupation and use, and caused by the presence of the tracks and cars. If these are such a menace to travel as to cause those who would otherwise have driven on the road to abandon its use in whole or in part, they directly affect its earning capacity, diminish its revenues and depreciate its value as a property, and the turnpike company may be permitted to show the decrease in revenues and depreciation in the market value of its capital stock as evidence of the damage sustained.</p> <p>In estimating the damages there should be excluded from the computation any loss of revenue from tolls occasioned by the fact that new and improved facilities for travel are furnished and that persons, who would otherwise drive over the turnpike, ride in the cars to and from points on the railway. There should also be excluded as an element of damages the loss of tolls caused by the diversion of travel from the turnpike by reason of the increased danger on a city street with which it oonnected and with which it formed a continuous route for travel.</p>