Detroit United Railway v. City of Detroit
Headline: City wins: court affirmed Detroit can end expired streetcar franchises, demand $200/day temporary rent or require the railway to remove tracks, limiting the company’s continued operation without a new franchise.
Holding:
- Allows cities to force street railways to pay temporary rent or stop operating after franchise expiry.
- Lets cities require removal of tracks within a set time (ninety days unless extended).
- Rejects claim that a fare ordinance alone extended the company’s right to occupy city streets.
Summary
Background
The dispute is between the City of Detroit and the Detroit United Railway over several streetcar franchises along the Fort Street Line. Three city grants had fixed end dates in June and July 1910. The Railway also held earlier Township grants running to 1921, and a 1906 city ordinance set a special ticket rate on those lines. As the three city franchises expired, Detroit passed resolutions saying the Railway could only operate temporarily by paying $200 a day, otherwise it must leave the streets.
Reasoning
The central question was whether the 1906 ordinance or any implied agreement extended the expired city franchises so the Railway could keep using streets until 1921. The Court relied on rules that such public grants must be plain and definite. It held the ordinance did not extend the fixed-term city grants, and that the Railway could not enlarge those rights by implication. The lower courts had found the franchises expired, that the City could require removal of tracks, and that the Railway must accept the temporary terms or vacate; the Court affirmed those rulings and rejected the Railway’s federal contract and due-process claims.
Real world impact
The decision allows a city to end a street railway’s rights when a fixed-term franchise runs out, to set short-term operating terms, and to require removal of tracks within a reasonable time. Here the state court allowed a ninety-day removal period after notice unless extended, and the federal courts declined to overturn that result.
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