Whenever the lines of railroad of two or more corporations may enter or pass through the corporate limits of any city or town in this State, the corporations owning such lines shall build such connecting tracks as may be necessary to effect an actual connection of such lines for the purpose of interchanging and delivering cars and freight in carload lots. The entire reasonable cost of construction and maintenance of such connecting track shall be borne by such railroad corporations whose tracks are so connected, in such ratable proportion as shall be determined and adjusted by the Public Service Commission. Failure to comply with the provisions of this section for six months after the building of any new line of railroad into such city or town shall subject each and every such corporation so failing to a penalty of twenty-five dollars per day, to be recovered in an action by any citizen of such city or town, one half for his own benefit and the other half for the benefit of the State. But any one of such railroad corporations may relieve itself from liability to such penalty by giving notice in writing within thirty days from the date when it shall become liable to the operation of this section to the other corporations so liable thereto of its readiness to proceed with the construction of such connecting track and if the other corporation or corporations so notified shall fail to unite in such construction within ten days after such written notice the corporation giving such notice may proceed to the construction of such track and may recover of each and every other line so connected such proportion of the costs of such construction as shall be determined by the Commission. But the recovery thereof shall not operate to discharge such delinquent corporation or corporations from liability to the penalty above imposed up to the time of the full completion of such connecting track. But the Commission may suspend the operation of the requirements of this section at such junctional points when it can be shown, upon a full and fair hearing before it, that the erection and operation of such connection would be unreasonable and unnecessary.

HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 58-1145; 1952 Code Section 58-1145; 1942 Code Section 8331; 1932 Code Section 8331; Civ. C. '22 Section 4878; Civ. C. '12 Section 3198; Civ. C. '02 Section 2109; 1900 (23) 388; 1935 (39) 25.