Railroad Commission of California v. Southern Pac Co Same v. Atchison Ry Co Same v. Los Angeles Co

Citation264 U.S. 331,68 L.Ed. 713,44 S.Ct. 376
Decision Date07 April 1924
Docket NumberNos. 283-285,s. 283-285
PartiesRAILROAD COMMISSION OF CALIFORNIA v. SOUTHERN PAC. CO. et al. SAME v. ATCHISON, T. & S. F. RY. CO. SAME v. LOS ANGELES & S. L. R. CO
CourtUnited States Supreme Court

Messrs. Wm. W. Clary, of Los Angeles, Cal., and Hugh Gordon, of San Francisco, Cal., for petitioner.

[Argument of Counsel from pages 332-336 intentionally omitted] Messrs. C. W. Durbrow, of San Francisco, Cal., E. W. Camp and A. S. Halsted, both of Los Angeles, Cal., and Charles H. Bates, of Washington, D. C., for respondents.

Mr. Chief Justice TAFT delivered the opinion of the Court.

The question in this case is whether the state Railroad Commission of California has power to require the Southern Pacific Company, the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Company, and the Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad Company to build an interstate union depot in the city of Los Angeles.

The proceedings were begun in 1916 before the Railroad Commission by complaints of civic associations and others against the railway companies. Before the hearing and the decision were had, the Transportation Act of Congress of 1920 was enacted (Comp. St. Ann. Supp. 1923, § 10071 1/4 a et seq.). In December, 1921, after two hearings, an amended order against the railways was made, by which they were required to remove certain grade crossings and to build a union terminal within a certain defined area in the city.

The railway companies sought review of this order in the Supreme Court of the state, and their three writs were heard and disposed of as one case. The Supreme Court of the state held that the order was beyond the power of the state Railroad Commission, because the subject-matter was committed to the Interstate Commerce Cmmission by the Transportation Act of 1920. The court further held that, if the order had effected the elimination of grade crossings alone, it would have been valid, but that, associated as it was with the establishment of the union station, it must be annulled. We have brought the case of the Commission against each of the railways here by certiorari.

Lines of the three railways approach Los Angeles from the north and come together in the city near the North Broadway viaduct, as it crosses the Los Angeles river. Thence the Salt Lake and Santa Fe lines follow the bed of the Los Angeles river, one on its east and the other on its west bank. The Salt Lake passenger station is at First street. Its main line from Pasadena and Glendale comes from the north, but its line from Salt Lake comes in from the south. From north to south in Los Angeles, its line hugs the east bank of the river for three miles. The Santa Fe station is opposite that of the Salt Lake Railway on the west bank. The Santa Fe hugs the west bank for three miles in the city. One of its lines leaves Los Angeles by the north for Chicago. Another leaves the city by the south, through Riverside, for Chicago. The Southern Pacific does not follow the river bed after passing under the Broadway viaduct, but extends in a southwesterly direction until it reaches the north end of Alameda street. From that point it runs south through the city at grade on that street. Its station is at Fifth street and lies southwesterly from the Salt Lake and Santa Fe stations and a quarter of a mile distant from them. The eastern main line of the Southern Pacific crosses the river at Alhambra avenue, joins the San Francisco main line, and reaches the station from there by the same tracks on Alameda street. The Southern Pacific occupies Alameda street on grade and longitudinally in both directions from its station for three miles. Its lines toward the south go to San Pedro and Santa Ana.

The order of the Railroad Commission requires the abandonment of the passenger stations of the three railways. The Southern Pacific station is a comparatively modern depot and would be adequate for many years. Those of the other two companies are not adequate, but they have ample ground upon which to construct suitable stations. The order required the removal from Alameda street of the main line of the Southern Pacific for three miles, permitting the use of its tracks in that street for switching during a few hours at night. The order also required that, by viaducts over the river and over the Salt Lake and Santa Fe tracks on the river banks, grade crossings should be eliminated. The order further required that the three railways should purchase jointly land enough in an area reaching from Alameda street to the river and from Aliso street to Alhambra street to erect a suitable union station, to be situated somewhere near a square called the Plaza. The railways are directed to make such additions to, extensions of, improvements and changes in, the existing railroad facilities of said companies as may be reasonably necessary and incidental to the use of said union passenger station. This would require the removal of the present station of the Southern Pacific from Fifth street toward the Plaza, at least half a mile, and the stations of the Santa Fe and the Salt Lake from First street on the river to the Plaza, more than a quarter of a mile. The changes to be effected under the order will require, in the abandonment of the Southern Pacific main track on Alameda street for three miles, a joint use by the Southern Pacific of main tracks on the river bank with either the Salt Lake or the Santa Fe, or the construction of its own main tracks on one side or the other along the river bank. The main tracks of the Salt Lake must be extended across the Los Angeles river on a viaduct to the area selected for the union station. The main track of the Santa Fe runs along the river side of the selected area, but an extension of its main tracks will have to be made to bring it into the new station.

The order requires the joint use of land, tracks, and terminal facilities valued at $28,050,691, the abandonment of three existing passenger stations of the railways as such, and the ultimate capital expenditure for all recommendations of from $25,000,000 to $45,000,000.

The Railroad Commission, in the Supreme Court of the state pressed the argument that, in view of its finding that the union station was an indispensable element in getting rid of the grade crossings, it had the incidental right to order its building. The court rejected the argument. It said:

'That notwithstanding the views expressed by the Railroad Commission in its findings and conclusions in the proceeding herein presented for review, we can perceive no indispensable relation between the elimination of grade crossings and the establishment of union depot facilities, nor can we see an unsurmountable difficulty why jurisdiction over the matter of eliminating grade crossings may not be exercised in a proper case consistently, and it may be concurrently, with the exercise of the authority which is vested by the act of Congress of 1920 in the Interstate Commerce Commission over the subject of union terminal depot facilities.'

The state Supreme Court thus modifies the findings of the Railroad Commission, in so far as they sought to tie the validity of its order establishing a union station to its unquestioned police power to regulate grade crossings in the interest of the public safety. We avoid any inquiry how far, if at all, the principle laid down in Erie R. Co. v. Board of Public Utility, 254 U. S. 394, 41 Sup. Ct. 169, 65 L. Ed. 322, is qualified by the provisions of the Transportation Act. Our only question here is whether the power to direct a new union station with its essential incidents is committed exclusively to the Interstate Commerce Commission under the act of 1920.

In Dayton-Goose Creek Ry. Co. v. United States et al. (decided January 7, 1924) 263 U. S. 456, 44 Sup. Ct. 169, 68 L. Ed. ——, this court said of the Transportation Act:

'The new act seeks affirmatively to build up a system of railways prepared to handle promptly all the interstate traffic of the country. It aims to give the owners of the railways an opportunity to earn enough to maintain their properties and equipment in such a state of efficiency that they can carry well this burden. To achieve this great purpose, it puts the railroad systems of the country more completely than ever under the fostering guardianship and control of the [Interstate Commerce] Commission which is to supervise their issue of securities, their car supply and distribution, their joint use of terminals, their construction of new lines, their abandonment of old lines, and by a proper division of joint rates, and by fixing adequate rates for interstate commerce, and in case of discrimination, for intrastate...

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