In addition to the main or terminal station or depot, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company, or the Washington Terminal Company may from time to time construct, establish, and maintain such additional stations or depots, for passengers or freight, as the company may deem necessary or useful in the conduct of its business, or for the accommodation of the freight and passenger traffic passing over the lines of railroad authorized by this Act, at such point or points within said District as the Council of the District of Columbia shall approve; provided, that no such station or depot within the city limits shall be located east of 2nd Street east, and west of North Capitol Street, and it shall be lawful for either of said companies to acquire, by gift, purchase, or condemnation, any land adjacent to any street or avenue along or upon which the lines of railroad and works hereby authorized shall be located, and hold and improve the same in such manner as it may deem necessary or beneficial to accommodate or promote the traffic on said railroad, and to extend and construct tracks of railroad into and upon any lands so acquired and connect the same with the tracks on such adjacent street or avenue; provided, however, that no grade crossing of any street or avenue within the City of Washington shall be thereby created, but such connecting tracks shall be elevated and carried over the portion of such street or avenue crossed in such manner as not to obstruct the free use thereof, and the plans of such connecting tracks and elevated structure shall in every case be first filed with and approved by the Council of the District of Columbia. And it shall be lawful for said companies, or either of them, subject to the same conditions and restrictions, to extend and construct, from time to time, branch tracks or sidings from the lines of railroad authorized hereunder into any lot or lots adjacent to any street or avenue along which said lines of railroad are located, upon the application of the owner or owners of such lot or lots, to enable such owners to use their property for the purposes of coal, wood, or lumber yards, manufactories, warehouses, and other business enterprises.

(Feb. 12, 1901, 31 Stat. 777, ch. 354, § 5.)

1981 Ed., § 7-1412.

1973 Ed., § 7-1212.

“This Act,” referred to in the first sentence of this section, means the Act of February 12, 1901, 31 Stat. 777, ch. 354.

This section originated at a time when local government powers were delegated to a Board of Commissioners of the District of Columbia (see Acts Relating to the Establishment of the District of Columbia and its Various Forms of Governmental Organization in Volume 1). Section 402(175) of Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1967 (see Reorganization Plans in Volume 1) transferred all of the functions of the Board of Commissioners under this section to the District of Columbia Council, subject to the right of the Commissioner as provided in § 406 of the Plan. The District of Columbia Self-Government and Governmental Reorganization Act, 87 Stat. 818, § 711 ( D.C. Code, § 1-207.11), abolished the District of Columbia Council and the Office of Commissioner of the District of Columbia. These branches of government were replaced by the Council of the District of Columbia and the Office of Mayor of the District of Columbia, respectively. Accordingly, and also pursuant to § 714(a) of such Act ( D.C. Code, § 1-207.14(a)), appropriate changes in terminology were made in this section.