Railways Act 1905 · 2020 Revised Edition · Part 3 · Opening of Railway
23. Sanction of Minister to opening of railway
Feedback & supportNo railway shall be opened for the public carriage of passengers until the Minister has by order sanctioned the opening thereof for that purpose.
railway
“railway” means a railway or any portion of a railway for the public carriage of passengers, animals or goods and includes —(a)all land within the fences or other boundary marks indicating the limits of the land appurtenant to a railway;(b)all lines of rails, sidings or branches worked over for the purposes of or in connection with a railway;(c)all stations, offices, warehouses, wharves, workshops, manufactories, fixed plant and machinery, and other works constructed for the purposes of or in connection with a railway;(d)all ferries, ships, boats and craft which are used for the traffic of a railway and belong to or are hired or worked by the authority administering the railway;(e)all engines, passenger coaches, and goods and livestock vehicles, or other rolling stock used for the purpose of carrying on the traffic of the railway;(f)all road vehicles used by or on behalf of or under contract with a railway administration for the conveyance of passengers, parcels, goods, livestock and vehicles; and(g)all aircraft used by or on behalf of or under contract with a railway administration for the conveyance of passengers, parcels, goods and livestock;
The sanction of the Minister shall not be given until an engineer, to be appointed by the Minister, has, after inspection of the railway, reported in writing to the Minister that —
he has made a careful inspection of the railway and rolling stock;
the weight of rails, strength of bridges, general structural character of the works, and the size of and maximum gross load upon the axles of any rolling stock are such as have been prescribed by the Minister;
the railway is sufficiently supplied with rolling stock;
in his opinion the railway can be opened for the public carriage of passengers without danger to the public using it.
This section shall extend to the opening of any additional works forming part of or directly connected with the railway which have been constructed after the inspection which preceded the first opening of the railway, and also to any alteration or reconstruction materially affecting the structural character of any work to which this section applies.
The Minister may make rules defining the cases in which, and in those cases the extent to which, the procedure prescribed in this section may be dispensed with in regard to the classes of works specified in subsection (3).