Transport Act, 1944
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PART VI. Abandonment of Railway Lines. | ||
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Abandonment of a railway line. |
110.—(1) Where an order has been made by the Minister under section 9 of the Railways Act, 1933 (No. 9 of 1933), authorising a railway company to terminate wholly a service of trains run over any specified railway line owned or operated by that company, the Minister may by order (in this section referred to as an abandonment order), made on the application of that company, authorise that company to abandon the said railway line. | |
(2) Every abandonment order shall specify the date on which it is to come into force and the date to be so specified shall not be earlier than twenty-eight days after the date on which the order is made. | ||
(3) Where an abandonment order in relation to any railway line is made, the railway company by which the said railway line is owned or was operated shall publish a copy of the order in the Iris Oifigiúil and in such other newspapers as the Minister may direct and shall serve a copy of the order on every local authority within whose functional area the railway line is situate. | ||
(4) Where an abandonment order has been made in relation to a railway line owned or operated by a railway company, the following provisions shall have effect, that is to say:— | ||
(a) where the railway line has been carried over a public road by means of a bridge which the railway company were, immediately before the date (in this subsection referred to as the operative date) on which the order comes into force, under a liability to maintain— | ||
(i) the Minister shall appoint a date (in this paragraph referred to as the appointed date) for the purposes of this paragraph, | ||
(ii) the railway company and the local authority, charged, under section 24 of the Local Government Act, 1925 (No. 5 of 1925), with the maintenance of the public road, may, before the appointed date, enter into an agreement for the removal or other method of dealing with the bridge (including, if necessary, either the restoration of the public road to like or other equally convenient state as it was in before it was interfered with by the makers of the railway line or the diversion of the public road) upon such terms and conditions as the parties thereto think fit, and, in that case, the liability (except such (if any) as may be imposed by the agreement) of the railway company to maintain the bridge shall cease upon the execution of the agreement, | ||
(iii) if no such agreement is so executed, but the railway company remove the superstructure of the bridge before the appointed date, then— | ||
(I) the liability of the railway company to maintain the bridge shall cease as on and from the date of removal, and | ||
(II) the local authority shall, as on and from the date of removal, be liable to maintain so much of the bridge as remains after the removal of the superstructure, and | ||
(III) the railway company shall pay to the local authority compensation for any expenses which the local authority may incur by reason of the liability so imposed on them, | ||
(iv) if no such agreement is so executed or if the superstructure of the bridge is not so removed, then— | ||
(I) the liability of the railway company to maintain the bridge shall cease on the appointed date, and | ||
(II) the local authority shall, as on and from the appointed date, be liable to maintain the bridge, and | ||
(III) the railway company shall pay to the local authority compensation for any expenses which the local authority may incur by reason of the liability so imposed on them; | ||
(b) where a public road has been carried over the railway line by means of a bridge which the railway company were, immediately before the operative date, under a liability to maintain— | ||
(i) the Minister shall appoint a date (in this paragraph referred to as the appointed date) for the purposes of this paragraph, | ||
(ii) the railway company and the local authority, charged, under the said section 24 of the said Local Government Act, 1925 , with the maintenance of the public road, may, before the appointed date, enter into an agreement for the removal or other method of dealing with the bridge (including, if necessary, either the restoration of the public road to like or other equally convenient state as it was in before it was interfered with by the makers of the railway line or the diversion of the public road) upon such terms and conditions as the parties thereto think fit, and, in that case, the liability (except such (if any) as may be imposed by the agreement) of the railway company to maintain the bridge shall cease upon the execution of the agreement, | ||
(iii) if no such agreement is so executed, then— | ||
(I) the liability of the railway company to maintain the bridge shall cease on the appointed date, and | ||
(II) as on and from the appointed date, the local authority shall be liable to maintain the bridge, and | ||
(III) the railway company shall pay to the local authority compensation for any expenses which the local authority may incur by reason of the liability so imposed on them; | ||
(c) if the railway line crosses on the level any public road, the railway company shall, not later than such date as the Minister may fix, remove the rails and do all such other things as may be necessary to render that part of the said public road on which the railway line crossed fit and safe for use by the public, and thereupon the liability of the railway company to maintain the said part in repair shall cease; | ||
(d) the liability, imposed on the railway company by section 68 of the Railways Clauses Act, 1845, to maintain any works (other than bridges over or under the railway line) of the kind mentioned in the said section 68 made, in pursuance of that section, for the accommodation of owners and occupiers of land adjoining the railway line shall as from the operative date cease, but the railway company shall pay to any owner or occupier of land adjoining the railway line for the accommodation of which any such works were made in pursuance of the said section 68 and which the railway company were immediately before the operative date liable to maintain, compensation for all such injury or damage (if any) as he may sustain by reason of the cesser of the liability of the railway company to maintain those works; | ||
(e) where any bridge (being a bridge which the railway company were immediately before the operative date liable to maintain) was, in pursuance of section 68 of the said Railway Clauses Act, 1845, made over or under the railway line for accommodation of owners and occupiers of land adjoining the railway line— | ||
(i) if the railway company, before such date as the Minister may fix for the purpose, do the following works, namely, replace the said bridge by a crossing on the level over the site of the abandoned railway and render the said crossing fit and safe for use, then, as from the completion of the said works, the liability of the railway company shall cease and they shall not be under any obligation to maintain the said crossing in repair, | ||
(ii) if the railway company do not before the said date do the said works— | ||
(I) the railway company shall as on and from the said date cease to be liable to maintain the said bridge, | ||
(II) the railway company shall pay to any owner or occupier of the land adjoining the railway line for the accommodation of which the said bridge was made compensation for all such injury or damage (if any) as he may sustain by reason of the cesser of the liability of the railway company to maintain the said bridge, | ||
(iii) where, immediately before the operative date, a right of way was exercisable over the said bridge— | ||
(I) in case the railway company, before the date referred to in sub-paragraph (i) of this paragraph, do the following works, namely, replace the said bridge by a crossing on the level over the site of the abandoned railway and render the said crossing fit and safe for use, a right of way similar to that which was exercisable over the said bridge shall, by virtue of this sub-paragraph, be exercisable over the said crossing, and any person for the time being entitled thereto may do all such things as are reasonably necessary for keeping the said crossing fit and safe for use, | ||
(II) in any other case, the right of way over the said bridge shall continue to be exercisable, and any person for the time being entitled thereto may do all such things as are reasonably necessary for keeping the said bridge fit and safe for use. | ||
(5) Where compensation is payable by a railway company to any person under this section— | ||
(a) the amount thereof shall, in default of agreement, be determined by an arbitrator to be appointed by the Minister, | ||
(b) the Minister shall fix the remuneration of the said arbitrator and such remuneration shall be paid by the railway company. | ||
(6) The arbitrator appointed to determine the compensation payable by a railway company to any person under this section may by his award and at his discretion— | ||
(a) direct the railway company to pay a sum (to be measured by the arbitrator) towards the costs and expenses of that person, or | ||
(b) direct that person to pay a sum (to be measured by the arbitrator) towards the costs and expenses of the railway company, or | ||
(c) direct the railway company and that person respectively to abide their own costs and expenses. | ||
(7) The Abandonment of Railways Act, 1850, shall not apply to any railway line in respect of which an abandonment order is made. | ||
(8) Where an abandonment order has been made in respect of any railway line, the railway company by which such line is owned may sell the land belonging to it under and adjoining such line either by private treaty to the owner of the land on both sides of such line or by public auction to any person, including such owner. | ||
(9) In this section— | ||
the expression “railway line” includes a section of a railway line; the expression “public road” means any road which a local authority is under a statutory obligation to maintain. |