Section 1 gave companies the right to build railroads in Texas and to connect with others at the state line, and the responsibility to act as a common carrier, transporting passengers and freight "without delay or discrimination".
The Southern Pacific Company was required to give up control of the San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway due to this section.
Section 8 required pre-existing railroad companies to accept Article X in order to benefit from future legislation.
The legislature decided in 1853 that all railroads operating in Texas should be headquartered in the state, and that was included in the 1876 constitution as section 3 of Article X.
Systems that entered Texas and their local companies included: The Interstate Commerce Commission approved a lease of the Texarkana and Fort Smith to the Kansas City Southern in 1933.