Pottsville Union Traction Co. v. St. Clair Borough

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
Pottsville Union Traction Co. v. St. Clair Borough, 261 Pa. 293 (Pa. 1918)
104 A. 602; 1918 Pa. LEXIS 733
Brown, Frazer, Moschzisker, Stewart, Walling

Pottsville Union Traction Co. v. St. Clair Borough

Opinion of the Court

Per Curiam,

The first reason given by the court below for dissolving the preliminary injunction is not good. It had undoubted jurisdiction of appellant’s bill, which averred that the appellees had threatened to and were about to place and erect fences and other obstructions across the tracks and roadbed of appellant upon and along the streets and highways in the Borough of St. Clair, and to otherwise interfere with, impede and prevent the operation of the company’s cars in said borough. In Bellevue Borough v. Ohio Valley Water Company, 245 Pa. 114, a very différent situation was presented, and all that was there decided was that the question of the reasonableness of rates established by public service corporations must, in the first instance, be submitted to the Public Service Commission when challenged.

We have not been convinced that the court erred in dissolving the injunction for the second reason given, and the appeal is dismissed, at appellant’s costs, with leave to it to apply for a reinstatement of the injunction if appellees should actually threaten or attempt to do the things complained of.

Reference

Full Case Name
Pottsville Union Traction Company v. St. Clair Borough
Cited By
1 case
Status
Published
Syllabus
Equity — Jurisdiction — Municipalities —■ Street railways — Obstruction of trades — Preliminary injunction — Absence of immediate danger — Dissolution of injunction — Appeal — Practice, Supreme Court. 1. An order dissolving- a preliminary injunction was not improperly entered where the evidence did not disclose any immediate or impending damage to the plaintiff, but rather an apprehension of danger. 2. A court of equity has jurisdiction to enjoin a municipality from placing obstructions across the tracks and roadbeds of a street railway company and from otherwise interfering with the operation of the company’s cars in the municipality. Bellevue Borough v. Ohio Valley Water Company, 245 Pa. 114,-distinguished.