Singapore legislation
Section 17
Section 17
Level crossings over public carriageways
(1)
Where a railway crosses any public carriage road on a level, the railway administration shall erect and at all times maintain good and sufficient gates across the railway on each side of such road where the road communicates with the railway, and shall employ proper persons to open and shut such gates.
(2)
Such gates shall be kept constantly closed across such railway except when engines or carriages passing along the railway have occasion to cross such road, and the person entrusted with the care of the gates shall cause the gates to be closed, as soon as the engines or carriages have passed through the gates, under penalty of a sum not exceeding $50 for every default therein.
(3)
The Minister may in any case order that any of such gates may be kept closed against the road instead of against the railway.
(4)
The Minister may impose any conditions with regard to such order.
(5)
Any railway company which fails to erect or maintain sufficient gates in accordance with this section at any level crossing, or fails to employ a proper person to open and shut such gates shall forfeit to the Government a sum of $100 for every day during which such default continues.
(6)
The Minister may, subject to such conditions as he thinks fit to impose, declare that subsections (1) and (2) shall not apply to such crossings as are specified in the declaration and thereupon the railway administration shall be relieved of the obligations under those subsections in respect of the crossings. Such declaration shall be published in the Gazette.
(b)
Where any such declaration has been made the railway administration shall erect warning boards alongside of the public carriage road and whistle signals upon the railway at suitable distances from such level crossings, and the driver of every locomotive engine shall sound the whistle of his engine in accordance with the signals before the engine crosses the road.
(c)
The railway administration shall not be liable for death or injury caused to any person or for damage to any property by the passage of any locomotive engine or any other rolling stock attached thereto across the public carriage road at such level crossings unless it is proved that the driver of the locomotive engine did not sound the whistle of his engine in accordance with the signals.
(d)
For the purposes of this subsection, “locomotive engine” includes any vehicle used upon the railway which is drawn or propelled by any motive power.