Any railroad company organized under any law of this state may construct and maintain, for a distance of not more than one-half a mile between its termini, a railroad to be operated by electricity beneath private property and the surface of any street, highway, park, training ground or other public place in any city of the first class, together with a subsurface station or stations, with necessary and convenient means of access thereto from the surface, upon obtaining the consent to such use by ordinance of the governing body of any such city, on such terms as may be prescribed by such body and approved by the board of public utility commissioners.