(a) Any railroad operating in this state may file with the Arkansas Department of Transportation a notice of discontinuance, dualization, or modification of any of its agency stations together with a statement certified by a proper officer of the railroad to the effect that the agency station had been operating at a financial loss according to standard accounting procedures for not less than one (1) year immediately preceding, or that operating economies would result consistent with public convenience and necessity.

(b) The agency station may be closed or modified ninety (90) days after the date of filing of the notice of discontinuance, dualization, or modification unless a petition for the reestablishment of the discontinued, dualized, or modified agency station, signed by at least twenty-five (25) qualified electors residing in the city, town, or political subdivision where the agency station is located, is filed with the department within sixty (60) days after the date of filing of the notice.

(c) The department is authorized, empowered, and required to hear and consider all petitions for the reestablishment of any agency station discontinued, dualized, or modified by the railroad under authority of this section. The hearing shall be held within sixty (60) days following filing of the petition for reestablishment and following thirty (30) days' written notice of the hearing to the railroad and petitioners.

(d) In determining whether an agency station should be discontinued, dualized, or modified, the standard to be employed is whether the railroad has operated the agency station at a financial loss according to standard accounting procedures for not less than one (1) year immediately preceding the filing of the notice of discontinuance, dualization, or modification, or whether operating economies would result therefrom.