Any such railroad corporation owning or operating a line of railroad in this state and projecting one or more extensions or branches of such line of railroad in this state shall file in the office of the secretary of state and in the office of the county clerk of each county through or in which the line of any such extension or branch shall be located a declaration, subscribed by its president or vice president and attested under its corporate seal, of its intention to construct such extension or branch line, stating the places from and to which it is intended to build the same, together with a map or plat showing the surveyed line or route thereof. The filing of such declaration and map or plat shall entitle such railroad corporation to a prior right to construct such extension or branch line along the line or route described therein; provided such corporation shall commence construction within four years after date of filing in the office of the secretary of state and complete the same within six years, and provided further, that it shall comply with the laws of this state for acquiring lands for right of way. Nothing in this section or Section 63-2-15 NMSA 1978 shall be deemed to exclude the jurisdiction of this state over the control of all railroads or parts thereof situate within the boundaries of this state.

History: Laws 1901, ch. 9, § 2; 1907, ch. 94, § 1; 1909, ch. 44, § 1; Code 1915, § 4738; C.S. 1929, § 116-707; 1941 Comp., § 74-218; 1953 Comp., § 69-2-18; 2013, ch. 75, § 42.

The 2013 amendment, effective July 1, 2013, required railroad corporations to file declarations of intention to construct extensions and branches with the secretary of state; added the title of the section; in the first sentence, after "file in the office of the", deleted "state corporation commission" and added "secretary of state"'; in the second sentence, after "filing in the office of", deleted "state corporation commission" and added "secretary of state"; and in the third sentence, after "Nothing in this", deleted "or the preceding" and after "section", added "or Section 63-2-15 NMSA 1978".