§ 116. Redemption of unused passage tickets. Every person who shall
have purchased a passage ticket from an authorized agent of a railroad
company, which shall not have been used, or shall have been used only in
part, may, within thirty days after the date of the sale of said ticket,
present the same, unused or partly used, for redemption, at the general
office of the railroad company which issued said ticket, or at the
ticket office where said ticket was sold, or at the ticket office at the
point to which the ticket has been used. If said ticket wholly unused,
shall be presented for redemption at the ticket office where sold, the
same shall be then and there redeemed by the agent in charge of said
ticket office at the price paid for said ticket. If said ticket, partly
used, shall be presented for redemption at the ticket office where sold,
or at the ticket office at the point to which used, the ticket agent at
either of said offices, upon delivery of said ticket, shall issue to the
holder thereof a receipt, properly describing said ticket and setting
forth the date of the receipt of said ticket, and the name of the person
from whom received, and shall thereupon forthwith transmit said ticket
for redemption to the general office. It shall be the duty of every
railroad company to redeem tickets presented for redemption, as in this
section provided for promptly and within not to exceed thirty days from
the date of presentation at the general office or from the date of the
aforesaid receipt. A wholly unused ticket shall be redeemed at the price
paid therefor. A partly used ticket shall be redeemed at a rate which
shall be equal to the difference between the price paid for the whole
ticket and the cost of a ticket of the same class between the points for
which said ticket was actually used. Mileage books shall be redeemed
within thirty days after the date of the expiration thereof in the same
manner. Provided, however, that nothing herein contained shall be deemed
to prohibit the requirement by tariff of advance notice of cancellation
as a condition to the redemption or use of passage tickets in connection
with which reserve accommodations have been obtained; provided, further,
that nothing herein contained shall be deemed to prohibit the
establishment by tariff of a service charge for the redemption of wholly
unused or partly used tickets. Every railroad company which shall
wrongfully refuse redemption, as in this section provided for, shall
forfeit to the aggrieved party fifty dollars, which sum may be
recovered, together with the amount of redemption money to which the
party is entitled, in an action in any court of competent jurisdiction,
together with costs; but no such action can be maintained unless
commenced within one year after the cause of action accrued.