Pennington v. Philadelphia, Wilmington & Baltimore Railroad

Bryan, J. delivered the opinion of the Court. The appellant purchased from a ticket agent of the appellee a ticket of which the following is a copy: In consideration of the reduced rate at which the ticket is sold, it is agreed that it shall he used within three days, including the day of sale, for a continuous trip only, and hy such trains as stop regularly at the station, and by its acceptance the purchaser becomes a party to and'binds himself to a compliance with these conditions. (1,723) Geo. A. Dadmun, General Ticket Agent.

On the back of the above ticket is the following stamp, to wit: { Phila. Wilm. and Balto. R. R. Dec. 13, 1882. Baltimore.} ⁹⁸ He proceeded in appellee’s cars to Perryman’s on the thirteenth day of December, 1881, and while attempting to return on the sixteenth day of December, the conductor refused to receive the ticket for his passage and required him to leave the cars.

The controversy depends upon the rights acquired by the purchase of the ticket. The plaintiff, at the trial below, offered to prove that before he purchased the ticket, he was informed by the agent, upoú inquiry from him, that it was “good until used.” We think that the plaintiff’s rights in this regard are limited by the ticket. There is no evidence in the record that the ticket agent was authorized to make any contracts for the railroad company, or that he had any duties beyond the sale and delivery of the tickets. The ticket, purchased by the appellant clearly informed him that he would have no right to use it after the fifteenth, and the agent had no authority to vary its terms.

A passenger has a right to he conveyed in the cars of a railroad company without making any special contract for transportation. Upon payment of the usual fare, the company is hound to convey him, and is under all the obligations imposed by law on common carriers, so far as they relate to the transportation of him as a passenger. It is competent to vary these obligations by a special agreement, on valuable consideration, between the passenger and the company. But if the passenger chooses to do so, he may stand on his legal rights, and elect to he carried to his destination without making any special contract.

The mere purchase of a ticket does not constitute a contract. Before the ordinary liability of the. railroad company can he varied, there must be a consent of the passenger, founded on valuable consideration. The ticket ordinarily is only a token, showing that the passenger has paid his fare. But where the ticket is sold