Railway - Definition - Law Dictionary Home Dictionary Definition railway

Definition :

Railway. A road owned by a private person or public company on which carriages run over iron rails; if the road is a public highway, that part of it on which the rails are laid is called a tramway. Every railway in this country (except a few private railways running through land owned by the owner of the railway) is constructed and managed (1) under a local and personal Act of Parliament; and (2) under the Companies Clauses, Lands Clauses, and Railways Clauses Consolidation Acts; and (3) under the general Acts relating to railways. The (English) Railway Act, 1921, provides for the reorganization of almost all the railways in England.

Railway Companies as Carriers, The powers of railway companies as carriers are given by the 86th section of the Railways Clauses Consolidation Act, 1845, and controlled by the (English) Railway and Canal Traffic Acts of 1854, 1873, and 1888. The (English) Act of 1845, s. 86, enacts that:-

It shall be lawful for the company [authorized (see s. 3) by the special Act to construct the railway] to use and employ locomotive engines or other moving power, and carriages and waggons to be drawn or propelled thereby and to carry and convey upon the railway all such passengers and goods as shall be offered to them for that purpose, and to make such reasonable charges in respect thereof as they may from time to time determine upon, not exceeding the tolls by the special Act authorized to be taken by them.

The section is permissive only, Johnson v. Midland Ry. Co., (1849) 18 LJ Ex 366; but the Railway Commissioners may compel a company to act as carriers; and some special Acts, e.g., that of the Great Northern Railway Company and that of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Company (see Lancashire and Yorkshire Co. v. Gidlow, LR 7 HL 517), compel companies to provide locomotive power, etc. ss. 92 and 108 of the Act of 1845 make railway public highways, s. 92 enacting that 'upon payment of the tolls from time to time demandable, all companies and persons shall be entitled to use the railway, with engines and carriages properly constructed,' etc., but this right will not be enforced by mandatory injunction, Powell Duffryn Steam Coal Co. v. Taff Vale Ry. Co., (1874) LR 9 Ch 331.

The powers of railway companies to charge for conveyance and carriage are specified in the various toll clauses of their special Acts, which are very imperfect. So far as 'merchandise traffic,' i.e., the traffic in goods and animals, is concerned, the 24th section of the (English) Railway and Canal Traffic Act, 1888, obliged all the companies to submit to the Board of Trade a 'revised classification of the traffic, and a revised schedule of maximum rates and charges applicable thereto,' with the view to their eventual embodiment in Acts of Parliament. Numerous Acts have been passed regulating these rates and charges. See RAILWAY RATES TRIBUNAL.

Passenger Fares.-The maximum fares for passengers have been but little revised since their first authorisation by the special Acts authorising the construction of the railways to which they are applicable. For tables of authorised maximum charges, see Hodges on Railways. The publication of fares at every station 'in a conspicuous place in the booking office 'is enjoined on the companies by s. 15 of the (English) Regulation of Railways Act, 1868, without any special penalty for non-compliance; and the printing upon every passenger ticket 'the fare chargeable for the journey for which such ticket is issued,' on pain of fine upto 40s. for every ticket issued without bearing the fare on its face, by s. 6 of the (English) Regulation of Railways Act, 1889. Travelling without fare and with intent to avoid payment is punishable by fine up to 40s. or in the case of a second conviction either by a fine not exceeding 20l., or in the discretion of the court by imprisonment for a term not exceeding one month.

Government Purchase and Revision of Tolls.-Since 1845 a clause has been inserted in every special railway Act to save the future parliamentary revision of the maximum rates and charges, and the Railway Regulation Act, 1844, authorised, after the expiration of twenty-one years from the passing of any construction Act, both Treasury Revision on three years' dividends exceeding 10 per cent., and Treasury Purchase whatever might be the rate of dividend; but 2,000 miles of railway are excluded from this Act as having been constructed before its date.

Accounts and Returns.-As to the accounts and returns which have to be made yearly to the Ministry of Transport, see the (English) Railway Companies (Accounts and Returns) Act, 1911, as amended, and Railways Act, 1921, s. 8.

As to the protection of rolling stock from distress and execution, see ROLLING STOCK.

Electrical Power.-The (English) Railways (Electrical Power) Act, 1903, as amended, 'facilitates the introduction and use of electrical power on railways,' and empowers the Minister of Transport to make Orders for those purposes, including the supply of electrical power and plant. The Orders may authorise the acquisition of land, but an order authorising such acquisition compulsorily will require confirmation by Act of Parliament, and before making any order the Minister of Transport must be satisfied that public notice of the application for it has been given, and must consider any objections by 'the council of any county, any local authority, or other person,' and give to those by whom the objection is made an opportunity of being heard, with the view of declining to make the order or of so modifying it as to remove the objection if the Board decide that the objection should be upheld.

Independent powers of the companies are expressly saved; and the Railways Clauses Consolidation Act, 1845, which applies to the vast majority of the lines, empowers every company to which it applies ''to use and employ locomotive engines or other moving power, and carriages and wagons to be drawn or propelled thereby.'

Mails. As to conveyance of mails, see (English) Railways (Conveyance of Mails) Act, 1838 (1 & 2 Vict. c. 98), and Conveyance of Mails Act, 1893 (56 & 57 Vict. c. 38). As to the reorganisation of the railway system, see the Railway Act, 1921, especially s. 1 and Sch. I. For the general law relating to railways, consult Browne and Theobald on Railways; see also Leslie on Transport and Disney on Carriage by Railway.

As to derating of railways, see (English) Rating and Valuation (Appointment) Act, 1928 (18 & 19 Geo. 5. C. 44), which provided schemes for relieving industry and freight carrying concerns of three-fourths of the burden of rates. See QUARTER-RATING and RATES, and (English) Railways (Valuation for Rating)Act, 1930 (20 & 21 Geo. 5, c. 24), ss. 9 and 11.

Means a railway, or any portion of a railway, for the public carriage of passengers or goods, and includes-

(a) all lands within the fences or other boundary marks indicating the limits to the land appurtenant to a railway;

(b) all lines of rails, sidings, or yards, or branches used for the purposes of, or in connection with, a railway;

(c) all electric transaction equipments, power supply and distribution installations used for the purposes of, or in connection with, a railway;

(d) all rolling stock, stations, offices, warehouses, wharves, workshops, manufactories, fixed plant and machinery, roads and streets, running rooms, rest houses, institutes, hospitals, water works and water supply installations staff dwellings and any other works constructed for the purpose of, or in connection with, railway;

(e) all vehicles which are used on any road for the purposes of traffic of a railway and owned, hired or worked by a railway; and

(f) all ferries, ships, boats and rafts which are used on any canal, river, lake or other navigable inland waters for the purposes of the traffic of a railway and owned, hired or worked by a railway administration. [Railways Act, 1989, s. 2 (31)]

Offices of the overseer and other persons engaged in construction work on the railway come within the ambit of the definition of 'railway' in s. 3(4) of the Railway Act, Samuel Tippee v. State, AIR 1963 Ori 20.

'Railway' includes 'steamer' but a jetty with but a steamer is not part of steamer, Mohammad Khaliluddin v. Union of India, AIR 1962 Pat 109 (112). [Railways Act, 1890, s. 3(4)]