Erie & Wyoming Valley Railroad v. Public Service Commission

Citations

• 74 Pa. Super. 338
• 1920 Pa. Super. LEXIS 151

Syllabus

<p>Public Service Commission — Public Service Company Paw — Act of July 26, 1918, P. P. 137b- — Sidings—Maintenance of sidings.</p> <p>A railroad company cannot be compelled to maintain a private siding off its own right-of-way which is not for any general public use. When the siding is for the use of an individual shipper, and not for that of the public, the duty of the railroad company is to furnish a switch connection.</p> <p>Under the provisions of the Public Service Company Law, relating to the construction of side tracks or switches, the Public Service Commission is vested with authority to require a railroad company to make the necessary switch connections, but it cannot compel tbe company to construct or maintain a siding off its own right-of-way.</p> <p>Public Service Commission — Public Service Company Law— Government control of railroads.</p> <p>The Public Service Commission of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania derives its authority from the Public Service Company Law, which authority the director general of railroads, when he took possession of the railways, was without power to expand. It was not within the jurisdiction of the Public Service Commission to control roads while in the hands of the government of the United States, by virtue of the authority vested by the act of Congress in the director general of railroads. The federal control having ceased on March 1, 1920, the orders of the director general of this particular class ceased, as of that date, to be effective.</p>