(a) (1) When not fewer than fifty (50) citizens of any incorporated town in this state, situated on the line of any railroad run or operated within this state, shall make application in writing to the president of the railroad company, to the board of directors thereof, through its secretary, or to any receiver, mortgagee, trustee, contractor, or other officer running and operating the railroad company and having control thereof, it shall be the duty of the railroad company to stop all freight or passenger trains, at some point within the corporate limits of the town most convenient for the reception and handling and discharge of freight, the reception and discharge of passengers, and the reception and delivery of the mails and most convenient to accommodate the business of the town. The railroad company shall furnish, provide, and maintain for the town, and the business thereof, every facility and convenience furnished or provided for other towns of the same, or approximating the same, population situated on the line of the railroad.
(2) There shall be no unjust discrimination on the part of such companies, either in respect to the facilities and conveniences, or in respect to the freight and passenger charges of tariff upon the railroads, but the charges shall be equal and uniform, and as to such towns the same or any description of way passengers and freight shall not be subject to higher rates of charges than the lowest rates charged by the same line, at the same time, for the same service over any part of that line.
(b) Before any town may or can insist upon and compel the stoppage of trains, as provided in this section, the corporate authorities of the town shall provide and make tender to the railroad companies sufficient means to defray the reasonable expenses of grading a switch or sidetrack at the place of stopping for the use of the railroad company.
(c) The writ of mandamus may issue at the suit of any citizen of the town upon the failure of any such railroad company to stop its trains as provided in this section, and it may compel the company to comply with the requirements of this section.
(d) If any railroad company within this state violates any of the provisions of this section, the corporate authorities of any corporate town aggrieved, or any citizen thereof, may bring suit against the company for the reasonable damages sustained through the violations.
(e) Any railroad company violating, or failing or refusing to obey, the requirements of this section shall be liable to a fine of one hundred dollars ($100) for each day of failure or refusal to carry out the provisions of this section. The fine shall be recoverable before any court of competent jurisdiction. This fine shall be paid into the State Treasury for the benefit of the Public School Fund.
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