156.Section 46 enables railway operators to make bye-laws, subject to confirmation by the Secretary of State and, where appropriate, the Scottish Ministers, to enable them and the police to control the conduct and behaviour of people using the railways. It also provides a mechanism governing the making of such bye-laws.
157.Subsection (1) defines the specific circumstances which the bye-laws can be made to regulate.
158.Subsection (2) lists some of the specific activities which the bye-laws may regulate including the issue of tickets, fare evasion, obstructing or interfering with the working of the railway, smoking, causing a nuisance, receipt and delivery of goods, and control of bicycles and other vehicles on footways.
159.Subsection (3) gives effect to Schedule 9, which provides the procedure for the making of bye-laws.
160.Subsection (4) ensures that existing bye-laws made by the Strategic Rail Authority continue to have effect until they are revoked.
161.Subsections (5) and (6) provide the Secretary of State with an order making power to revoke or amend bye-laws made by the Strategic Rail Authority and other bye-laws currently in force.
162.Subsection (7) defines the meaning of "railway operator" in the context of the power to make bye-laws under subsection (1).
163.Subsection (8) enables bye-laws to be applied to railway assets operated by a railway operator or rolling stock which a railway operator manages.
164.Under the terms of Section 130 of the 1993 Act, as amended by the Transport Act 2000, provision is made for the making of regulations connected with the charging of penalty fares on the national rail network. The power to make regulations relating to the amount of a penalty fare is currently a power for the Secretary of State to exercise. Section 47 makes provision for the Scottish Ministers to also be empowered to make penalty fare regulations in relation to trains and stations used in connection with railway passenger services provided under Scottish franchise agreements, other Scotland-only services or services which have been secured by the Scottish Ministers. Regulations made by the Scottish Ministers will be subject to the negative resolution procedure in the Scottish Parliament (the equivalent procedure in Scotland to that which applies to regulations made by the Secretary of State under section 130 of the 1993 Act).
165.Section 48 provides the Scottish Ministers with the power to prepare (and from time to time revise) a code of practice for protecting the interests of disabled persons in Scotland who are users of railway passenger services or station services. In preparing or revising the code, the Scottish Ministers are to consult the Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee. Where the Scottish Ministers use this power to prepare a code of practice, they must publish the code (as revised from time to time) in such manner as they consider appropriate.
166.The provision of Sections 59 to 65 of the 1993 Act deal with Railways Administration - a particular system of insolvency for the rail industry based upon the Insolvency Act 1986 but with different purposes, in that it is primarily focused on ensuring that railway services are maintained.
167.Sections 49 and 50 provide for the Scottish Ministers to be able to exercise functions in relation to the railways administration of a franchise operator in relation to a Scottish franchise agreement. They provide the Ministers with power to apply for a railways administration order in respect of such an operator. The Scottish Ministers must also be notified in advance of any proposals to obtain a winding up order, a voluntary winding up resolution or an administration order in respect of a Scottish protected railway company. This advance notification allows time for the Scottish Ministers to apply, if they consider it appropriate to do so, for a railways administration order in respect of that company. If a railways administration order is made, this effectively blocks the proposal for the other procedure from progressing. In addition, the Scottish Ministers must be notified in advance of any proposals by any person to enforce their security over the property of a Scottish protected railway company. This advance notice again allows time for the Scottish Ministers to apply, if they consider it appropriate to do so, for a railways administration order in respect of the company.
168.They also give the Ministers power to provide funding or guarantees in order to achieve the purposes of the railways administration order, and to indemnify the railways administrator appointed under the railways administration order (and persons connected with him). They may set such conditions on the financial assistance they provide as they see fit.
169.Section 51 places a new duty on the ORR to provide information and advice to the Secretary of State, to the Scottish Ministers and to the NAW in connection with their respective railways functions. Subsection (1) requires the ORR to meet the Secretary of State's reasonable requirements for information and advice and other assistance, including in connection with his railway safety functions. Subsection (2) imposes a similar requirement in relation to the Scottish Ministers in connection with their railway functions (which do not include railway safety functions). Subsection (3) imposes a requirement for the ORR to meet the reasonable requirements of the NAW for information and advice on its railway functions (which do not include railway safety functions).
170.Subsection (1) specifies that the Passenger Transport Executives must provide advice to the Secretary of State when he requests it on matters connected to his functions in relation to railways or railway services. It is envisaged that advice could be sought as a useful factor to be considered as part of the Secretary of State’s rail planning activities. This provision could be used to request advice on how changes in the local rail network can be made to best reflect local priorities within the resources available. This might include value for money assessments of how resources spent on rail in the PTE’s area could be best allocated across all transport modes to support local transport priorities.
171.Subsection (2) provides that Passenger Transport Executives do not have to comply with a request outlined in subsection (1) if it would impose an unreasonable administrative burden.
172.Subsection (3) allows that in determining what is an unreasonable administrative burden other requests for advice made under the provisions of this section should be taken into account. This means that, although an individual request for advice might not constitute an unreasonable burden, if that request is made alongside a large number of other requests, they could in totality be seen to represent an unreasonable burden.
173.Subsection (4) defines the Secretary of State’s functions in relation to railways or railway services and provides that in relation to this section these functions do not include those relating to rail safety.