Railway Regulation Act 1840

JurisdictionUK Non-devolved
Citation1840 c. 97
Year1840
Anno Regni VICTORI, Britanniarum Regin,Tertio & Quarto. An Act for regulating Railways.

(3 & 4 Vict.) C A P. XCVII.

[10th August 1840]

'WHEREAS it is expedient for the Safety of the public to provide for the due Supervision of Railways:' Be it therefore enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the Authorityof the same, That, after Two Months from the passing of this Act, no Railway, or Portion of any Railway, shall be opened for the public Conveyance of Passengers or Goods until One Calendar Month after Notice in Writing of the Intention of opening the same shall have been given, by the Company to whom such Railway shall belong, to the Lords of the Committee of Her Majesty's Privy Council appointed for Trade and Foreign Plantations.

S-II Penalty for opening Railways without Notice.

II Penalty for opening Railways without Notice.

II. And be it enacted, That if any Railway, or Portion of any Railway, shall be opened without due Notice as aforesaid, the Company to whom such Railway shall belong shall forfeit to Her Majesty the Sum of Twenty Pounds for every Day during which the same shall continue open, until the Expiration of One Calendar Month after the Company shall have given the like Notice as is herein-before required before the opening of the Railway; and any such Penalty may be recovered in any of Her Majesty's Courts of Record.

S-III Returns to be made by Railway Companies.

III Returns to be made by Railway Companies.

III. And be it enacted, That the Lords of the said Committee may order and direct every Railway Company to made up and deliver to them Returns, according to a Form to be provided by the Lords of the said Committee, of the aggregate Traffic in Passengers, according to the several Classes, and of the aggregate Traffic in Cattle and Goods respectively, on the said Railway, as well as of all Accidents which shall have occurred thereon attended with personal Injury, and also a Table of all Tolls, Rates, and Charges from Time to Time levied on each Class Passengers, and on Cattle and Goods, conveyed on the said Railway; and if the Returns herein specified shall not be delivered within Thirty Days after the same shall have been required, every such Company shall forfeit to Her Majesty the Sum of Twenty Pounds for every Day during which the said Company shall wilfully neglect to deliver the same; and every such Penalty may be recovered in any of Her Majesty's Courts of Record: Provided always, that such Returns shall be required, in like Manner and at the same Time, from all the said Companies, unless the Lords of the said Committee shall specially exempt any of the said Companies, and shall enter the Grounds of such Exemption in the Minutes of their Proceedings.

S-IV Penalty for making false Returns.

IV Penalty for making false Returns.

IV. And be it enacted, That every Officer of any Company who shall wilfully make any false Return to the Lords of the said Committee shall be deemed guilty of a Misdemeanor.

S-V Board of Trade may appoint Persons to inspect Railways.

V Board of Trade may appoint Persons to inspect Railways.

V. And be it enacted, That it shall be lawful for the Lords of the said Committee, if and when they shall think fit, to authorize any proper Person or Persons to inspect any Railway; and it shall be lawful for every Person so authorized, at all reasonable Times, upon producing his Authority, if required, to enter upon and examine the said Railway, and the Stations, Works, and Buildings, and the Engines and Carriages belonging thereto: Provided always, that no Person shall be eligible to the Appointment as Inspector as aforesaid who shall within One Year of his Appointment have been a Director or have held any Office of Trust or Profit under any Railway Company.

S-VI Penalty on Persons obstructing Inspector.

VI Penalty on Persons obstructing Inspector.

VI. And be it enacted, That every Person wilfully obstructing any Person, duly authorized as aforesaid, in the Execution of his Duty, shall, on Conviction before a Justice of the Peace having Jurisdiction in the Place where the Offence shall have been committed, forfeit and pay for every such Offence any Sum not exceeding Ten Pounds; and on default of Payment of any Penalty so adjudged, immediately or within such Time as the said Justice of the Peace shall appoint, the same Justice, or any other Justice having Jurisdiction in the Place where the Offender shall be or reside, may commit the Offender to Prison for any Period not exceeding Three Calendar Months; such Commitment to be determined on Payment of the Amount of the Penalty; and every such Penalty shall be returned to the next ensuing Court of Quarter Sessions in the usual Manner.

S-VII Copies of existing Bye Laws to be laid before the Board of Trade;

VII Copies of existing Bye Laws to be laid before the Board of Trade;

VII. 'And whereas many Railway Companies are or may hereafter be empowered by Act of Parliament to make Bye Laws, Orders, Rules, or Regulations, and to impose Penalties for the Enforcement thereof, upon Persons other than the Servants of the said Companies, and it is expedient that such Powers should be under proper Control;' be it enacted, That true Copies of all such Bye Laws, Orders, Rules, and Regulations made under any such Powers by every such Company before the passing of this Act, certified in such Manner as the Lords of the said Committee shall from Time to Time direct, shall, within Two Calendar Months after the passing of this Act, be laid before the Lords of the said Committee; and that every such Bye Law, Order, Rule, or Regulation, not so laid before the Lords of the said Committeewithin the aforesaid Period, shall, from and after that Period, cease to have any Force or Effect, saving in so far as any Penalty may have been already incurred under the same.

S-VIII No future Bye Laws to be valid till Two Calendar Months after they have been laid before the Board of Trade.

VIII No future Bye Laws to be valid till Two Calendar Months after they have been laid before the Board of Trade.

VIII. And be it enacted, That no such Bye Law, Order, Rule, or Regulation made under any such Power, and which shall not be in force at the Time of the passing of this Act, and no Order, Rule, or Regulation annulling any such existing Bye Law, Rule, Order, or Regulation which shall be made after the passing of this Act, shall have any Force or Effect until Two Calendar Months after a true Copy of such Bye Law, Order, Rule, or Regulation, certified as aforesaid, shall have been laid before the Lords of the said Committee, unless the Lords of the said Committee shall, before such Period, signify their Approbation thereof.

S-IX Board of Trade may disallow Bye Laws.

IX Board of Trade may disallow Bye Laws.

IX. And be it enacted, That it shall be lawful for the Lords of the said Committee, at any Time either before or after any Bye Law, Order, Rule, or Regulation shall have been laid before them as aforesaid shall have come into operation, to notify to the Company who shall have made the same their Disallowance thereof, and, in case the same shall be...

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