Chapter 247: Railroad Transportation of Passengers, Baggage and Freight

Every railroad shall furnish to all persons reasonable and equal terms, facilities and accommodations for the transportation of persons and property over their railroad, and for the use of depots, buildings, and grounds in connection with such transportation, and for the interchange of such traffic at points of connection with other railroads.

No cars of wood superstructure shall be used for the transportation of passengers on any railroad within this state after January 1, 1954, without the consent of the department of transportation.

If any railroad shall not comply with the provisions of RSA 247:1 or 247:2, it shall be for each offense guilty of a felony, and shall be liable to the party injured for his damages in an action on the case.

The conductor shall promptly collect, of passengers not entitled to ride free, the established fares or the tickets showing that they have paid.

If any such passenger shall not pay his fare or give up to the conductor a ticket showing payment thereof, the conductor may remove him from the train at some passenger station on the road, and may require others to aid him. If any person refuses or neglects to give such aid when required, he shall be guilty of a violation.

If a person fraudulently evades or attempts to evade the payment of the established fare by giving a false answer to the collector thereof, or by traveling beyond the point to which he has paid, or by leaving the train without having paid the fare, or by any other means, he shall be guilty of a violation.

If a conductor, ticket-master or other officer of a railroad shall knowingly violate any provision of RSA 247 relative to fares, he shall be guilty of a violation and shall be incapable of holding any office or any employment on the railroad.

If a passenger or other person behaves in a noisy or disorderly manner, or is intoxicated or will not cease drinking intoxicating liquor of any kind upon a railway train or in a railroad or railway waiting room upon the request of the conductor of the train, or the person in charge of such waiting room, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

The conductor, baggage master or brakeman on the train may remove such person to the baggage car, and there detain him until he arrives at his destination, or until he is placed in the custody of an officer for lawful detention; and the person in charge of such waiting room may remove such person from the car or waiting room, or detain him until he is placed in the custody of an officer.

Whoever, without right, rides or attempts to ride upon a locomotive engine, tender, freight car, caboose or other conveyance not a part of a passenger train upon any railroad in this state shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

A sheriff, deputy sheriff, police officer or railroad police officer, upon view of an offense described in RSA 247:10, may, without a warrant, arrest the offender and take him to the nearest police station or other place of lawful detention in the county where the offense was committed.

No passenger, mail or baggage car, except when in mixed trains composed of passenger and freight cars, shall be heated by common stoves or by any method of heating that has not been approved in writing by the department of transportation, or that is not permitted by them in the making of experiments.

If a railroad violates the provisions of RSA 247:12, it shall be guilty of a felony.

Every passenger, in consideration of the fare paid by him, shall be entitled to have a reasonable amount of personal baggage carried by the same train on which he goes; but, if such baggage exceeds in value $100, the railroad shall not be liable for its loss or damage beyond that sum unless notice is given to them of its value and an extra charge is paid for the risk.

Every railroad shall be responsible for the safe transportation of all such baggage and for its delivery at the station for which the same was received, and in default thereof shall be liable to pay the owner the damage sustained, after the expiration of 30 days from the time notice of the loss or injury is given to some officer, agent or servant of the railroad.

Every railroad shall cause a copy of RSA 247:15 to be kept posted at every depot on their railroad.

If any baggagemaster, brakeman, express agent, stagedriver, hackman, porter or other person, whose duty it is to handle, remove or take care of the baggage of passengers or travelers, shall recklessly or willfully injure or destroy any trunk, valise, box, package or parcel, while loading, transporting, unloading, delivering, removing or storing it, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

A railroad, or any common carrier, may sell by auction or private sale any fresh fish, fresh meat, fruits, vegetables, grains or other quickly perishable articles that have been transported by them and have not been removed by the owner or consignee within a reasonable time after their arrival at destination, and notice of the arrival has been given to him.

It may sell by auction any other property that has been transported by it and has not been removed by the owner or consignee within one year after its arrival at the place of destination.

In such case it shall post a notice of the time and place of the sale and of the articles to be sold in 2 or more public places in the town where the property is situated at least 7 days before the day of sale; and, if the value of the property exceeds $100, it shall publish a like notice in some newspaper published in that or some neighboring town.

It shall make a statement of its doings in making the sale, of the proceeds thereof, of the charges and expenses incident thereto and of its charges against the consignee or owner, and shall cause the same to be recorded in the town clerk's office, and it shall pay on demand the balance of the proceeds above such charges to the owner of the property or the person entitled thereto. If unclaimed, such proceeds shall be held subject to the provisions of RSA 471-C.