Railroad companies must install and maintain cattle guards or stops where tracks enter fields or enclosures, and they may owe damages if they fail to do so.
Sec. 112.101. CATTLE GUARDS. (a) A railroad company whose railroad passes through a field or enclosure shall construct and keep in good repair a good and sufficient cattle guard or stop at each location the railroad enters the field or enclosure. (b) If a field or enclosure through which a railway passes is enlarged or extended, or the owner of any land over which a railway runs clears and opens a field so as to include the track of a railway, the railroad company shall construct and keep in repair good and sufficient cattle guards or stops at the borders of the extended enclosures or fields or the new fields. (c) A cattle guard or stop required by this section shall be constructed and kept in repair to protect the fields and enclosures from the depredations of stock of any kind. (d) If a railroad company fails to construct and keep in repair a cattle guard or stop required by this section, the owner of the enclosure or field may: (1) have the required cattle guards or stops constructed at the proper places and kept in repair; and (2) recover from the company the costs of constructing or repairing the required cattle guards or stops, unless it is shown that the enlargement or extension was made capriciously and with intent to harass and molest the company. (e) A railroad company that neglects to construct or keep in repair a proper cattle guard or stop as required by this section is liable to a party injured by the neglect for all damages that may result from the neglect. The injured party may seek to recover the damages by filing suit. Added by Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch. 85 (S.B. 1540), Sec. 2.03, eff. April 1, 2011.