Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 160 § 80
If a railroad corporation is not able to obtain by agreement with the owner any land necessary for the location of its railroad, it may file with the department a description of such location, which shall not be more than five rods wide unless authorized by the department under section eighty-three. Such description shall define the courses, distances and boundaries and shall be in such form and shall contain such plans and particulars as may be required by the rules of the department. Within ten days after the filing of such description with the department, the corporation shall submit to the board of aldermen of every city, and to the selectmen of every town through which the route of the proposed railroad passes, a copy, duly certified by the clerk of the department, of so much of the said location as applies to that part of the said railroad which lies within the limits of such city or town. The board of aldermen or the selectmen shall thereupon appoint a time and place for a hearing in the manner provided by section nineteen.
If the board of aldermen or the selectmen, after notice and hearing as aforesaid, shall agree with the directors as to said location, or as to any location of the said railroad in their city or town, they shall in such agreement fix the location, and sign and give to the directors a certificate setting it forth, and shall make report of their action to the department within sixty days after the said copy has been submitted to them as hereinbefore provided. If they fail so to agree within sixty days after said corporation has submitted the location to the board of aldermen or to the selectmen, the directors shall, within sixty days, petition the department to fix the location in that city or town, and the department, after notice to the board of aldermen or to the selectmen, shall forthwith hear the parties and, within ninety days, fix the location in that city or town, and shall make a certificate setting forth the location so fixed, which shall be certified by its clerk to the board of directors. The costs of the petition shall be paid by the corporation. The department shall by order finally fix the location of the said railroad in accordance with the original location as varied in the said certificate, subject to the provisions of the following section.
Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 160, § 80