ENDERLIN, ND (KFGO-AM) - The city of Enderlin is embroiled in a legal battle over an ordinance that bans trains from blocking railroad crossings for more than 10 minutes.
Canadian Pacific Railway has filed a federal lawsuit that seeks to have the ordinance declared invalid. Canadian Pacific claims the city doesn't have the authority to enforce the ordinance because railroads are regulated by federal laws.
“The city council and the mayor of the city of Enderlin have expressed that their main concern with respect to rail cars is safety,” according to Enderlin City Attorney Fallon Kelly. “More specifically, with the time it takes for fire services, ambulance services, law enforcement services to react.”
Kelly says the city is acting within state law, but the railroad says the ordinance is unconstitutional because it’s discriminatory and violates due process.
Railroad employees who violate the ordinance must serve a mandatory minimum of two days in jail and pay a $500 fine. The ordinance also says anyone convicted must also pay at least $1,000 in civil damages "without the necessity of a separate trial in civil court."