Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 161 § 60
A company authorized to construct its railway at grade across a public way in any place where such crossing is not a part of the crossing of such way by another public way, and incident to the construction of the street railway longitudinally within the limits of such other public way, shall, in any proceedings for the abolition of such grade crossing, be considered as a railroad corporation under sections sixty-five to eighty-two, inclusive, of chapter one hundred and fifty-nine if such company has taken any land or other property under authority of the two preceding sections; and it may bring a petition, or be made a respondent to any petition brought by any of the other parties named in said sections, in the same way and be subject to the same liabilities as if it were a railroad corporation.
Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 161, § 60