Layman v. Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority

Summary

The Massachusetts Appeals Court affirmed dismissal of a plaintiff’s action against the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority seeking to compel the sounding of both bells and whistles at railroad grade crossings. The court held that G. L. c. 160, § 138 requires a bell or a whistle, not both, and therefore did not create the public duty on which the plaintiff relied for standing under the public right doctrine. The court also affirmed denial of the motion to alter or amend the judgment.

Holdings

1. Section 138 requires a railroad corporation to ring a bell or sound a whistle at covered grade crossings; it does not require both a bell and a whistle.
2. Layman lacked standing under the public right doctrine because § 138 did not create the public duty he alleged.
3. Boyd did not authoritatively construe § 138 to require a whistle rather than permitting a bell to satisfy the statute.

Questions Presented

1. Whether G. L. c. 160, § 138, requires railroad corporations to sound both a bell and a whistle at every covered grade crossing, rather than permitting either a bell or a whistle.
2. Whether the alleged statutory duty supported Layman's standing under the public right doctrine to seek relief in the nature of mandamus.
3. Whether the Superior Court properly dismissed the complaint and denied the motion to alter or amend the judgment.

Disposition

affirmed