Railways Act 1993

Miscellaneous and general

123 No person to be common carrier by railway

No person shall be regarded as a common carrier by railway.

124 Carriage of mail by railway

Sections 33 to 42 of the [1953 c. 36.] Post Office Act 1953 (which make provision for and in connection with the power of the Post Office to compel railway undertakers to convey mail-bags on their trains) shall cease to have effect.

125 Railway heritage

(1) A publicly owned railway company, the Board or any wholly owned subsidiary of the Board may dispose of any historical record or artefact which it owns and which is in its possession, but only if the disposal is in accordance with any directions given to the company or, as the case may be, the Board or the subsidiary under subsection (2) below by a committee (“the committee”) established under a scheme made under this section.

(2) It shall be the function of the committee—

(a) to designate those classes or descriptions of record or artefact which, in the opinion of the committee, are of sufficient interest to warrant preservation and to notify publicly owned railway companies, the Board or any wholly owned subsidiary of the Board of the classes or descriptions so designated;

(b) to give directions to publicly owned railway companies, the Board or any wholly owned subsidiary of the Board—

(i) specifying the person or persons or the classes or descriptions of person to whom the companies or, as the case may be, the Board or subsidiary must offer any historical record or artefact; and

(ii) where there are two or more such persons, specifying the order in which the offers are to be made; and

(c) to give directions to publicly owned railway companies, the Board or any wholly owned subsidiary of the Board with respect to the terms (including any terms relating to payment) on which the companies or, as the case may be, the Board or subsidiary must offer any historical record or artefact to any such person.

(3) Directions under paragraph (b) or (c) of subsection (2) above may be of a general or specific character and may make different provision in relation to different classes or descriptions of record or artefact or different records or artefacts of the same class or description.

(4) A scheme under this section—

(a) shall provide for the committee to consist of a chairman, and not less than six other members, appointed by the Board with the approval of the Secretary of State;

(b) may make provision requiring the Board—

(i) to provide the committee with such administrative and secretarial assistance as the committee may reasonably require;

(ii) to reimburse any out-of-pocket expenses duly incurred by the chairman and other members of the committee in the performance of their functions; and

(c) may contain such supplemental and incidental provision as the Secretary of State may consider necessary or expedient.

(5) The power to make a scheme under this section shall be exercisable by order made by the Secretary of State after consultation with—

(a) the Board; and

(b) such other persons as the Secretary of State may consider appropriate.

(6) Subject to paragraph 7 of Schedule 1 to the [1958 c. 51.] Public Records Act 1958 and any Orders in Council made under that paragraph, nothing in that Schedule shall cause any records disposed of under or by virtue of subsection (1) above to become, by reason of that or any subsequent disposal, public records within the meaning of that Act; but any records disposed of under or by virtue of that subsection which at any time are for the time being in the custody of the Secretary of State for Scotland may be treated for the purposes of section 5(1) of the [1937 c. 43.] Public Records (Scotland) Act 1937 as records belonging to Her Majesty.

(7) Nothing in subsection (1) above, and no provision of any scheme made under this section, shall apply to any disposal made in accordance with a transfer scheme under Part II above.

(8) Without prejudice to the continuing operation of section 144 of the [1968 c. 73.] Transport Act 1968 in relation to the transfer or other disposal of any such historical records and relics, or other documents or objects, as are mentioned in that section—

(a) by any body or person which is a relevant authority, within the meaning of that section, or

(b) by any such subsidiary or former subsidiary as is mentioned in subsection (7A) of that section,

that section shall, in consequence of this section, cease to have effect in relation to transfers or other disposals of any such historical records or relics, or other objects or documents, by the Board as from such date as the Secretary of State may by order appoint.

(9) In this section (except subsection (8) above), “historical record or artefact” means any record or artefact of a class or description designated by the committee pursuant to subsection (2)(a) above.

126 General duties and powers of the Board

(1) In section 3 of the [1962 c. 46.] Transport Act 1962, at the beginning of subsection (1) (duty of the Board to provide railway services in Great Britain) there shall be inserted the words “Subject to subsection (1A) of this section,” and after that subsection there shall be inserted—

“(1A) The Board shall be discharged from the duty imposed by subsection (1) of this section with respect to the provision of railway services in Great Britain if and to the extent that such services are, or have at any time since the coming into force of this subsection been,—

(a) provided by the Board, or a subsidiary of the Board, pursuant to any agreements or arrangements falling within subsection (1B) of this section; or

(b) provided (whether under or by virtue of the Railways Act 1993 or otherwise) by persons other than the Board and their subsidiaries;

but, notwithstanding anything in this subsection, it shall be the duty of the Board to have, as respects any railway services provided as mentioned in paragraph (a) of this subsection (and any other services or facilities provided in connection therewith) due regard to efficiency, economy and safety of operation.

(1B) The agreements or arrangements mentioned in subsection (1A)(a) of this section are as follows, namely—

(a) an agreement or arrangement made pursuant to the Railways Act 1993, to which the Franchising Director and the Board, or a subsidiary of the Board, are parties;

(b) an agreement made between—

(i) the Board or a subsidiary of the Board, and

(ii) a person who is the owner or operator of a railway asset or track,

being an agreement under which the Board or a subsidiary of the Board operates that railway asset or track or uses it to provide network, station or light maintenance services.

(1C) For the purposes of subsection (1B) above and this subsection—

(a) any reference to a railway asset includes a reference to any part of a railway asset;

(b) “operator”, in relation to a railway asset or track, means the person having the management of that railway asset or track for the time being;

(c) “owner”, in relation to a railway asset or track, means any person—

(i) who has an estate or interest in, or right over, the railway asset or track in question; and

(ii) whose permission to use that railway asset or track is needed by another before that other may use it;

and, subject to that, expressions used in either subsection and in Part I of the Railways Act 1993 have the same meaning in that subsection as they have in that Part.”

(2) At the end of that section there shall be added—

“(5) Subject to subsection (6) of this section, section 82 of the Railways Act 1993 (meaning of “railway services”) shall apply for the purposes of this section as it applies for the purposes of Part I of that Act.

(6) If it appears to the Secretary of State that the Board—

(a) have ceased to provide railway services of a description falling within any paragraph (“the relevant paragraph”) of subsection (1) of that section, or

(b) have ceased to provide such services otherwise than as mentioned in subsection (1A)(a) of this section,

he shall by order provide that, as from the date on which the order comes into force, subsection (1) of that section shall, in its application for the purposes of this section, have effect as if the relevant paragraph (which shall be specified in the order) were omitted therefrom.

(7) An order under subsection (6) of this section may make such consequential amendments or repeals of or in this section or any other enactment as may appear to the Secretary of State to be necessary or expedient for the purposes of, or in connection with, the order.

(8) The power to make an order under subsection (6) of this section shall be exercisable by statutory instrument; and a statutory instrument containing any such order shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.”

127 Power of the Board to provide business support services for other operators

(1) The Board shall have power to provide business support services for—

(a) the Regulator;

(b) any person who provides, or secures the provision of, railway services; or

(c) any person carrying on any undertaking which was, immediately before 1st April 1993, carried on by the Board or any wholly owned subsidiary of the Board.

(2) Without prejudice to the generality of the expression, the provision of “business support services” includes for the purposes of this section—

(a) the provision of any service or facility for or in relation to—

(i) information technology;

(ii) property management;

(iii) marketing;

(iv) the issuing of tickets;

(v) research; or

(vi) engineering; and

(b) the provision of technical or specialist advice.

(3) If the Secretary of State is of the opinion—

(a) that the Board has ceased to provide business support services of any class or description, or

(b) that it is no longer necessary, or no longer desirable, for the Board to have power to provide any business support services, or business support services of any class or description,

he may by order provide that, as from the date on which the order comes into force, the Board shall cease to have power to provide the business support services in question.

(4) The power of the Secretary of State to make an order under subsection (3) above is exercisable in relation to any power of the Board to provide business support services, whether under this section or otherwise.

(5) An order under subsection (3) above may make such consequential amendments or repeals in any enactment as may appear to the Secretary of State to be necessary or expedient for the purposes of, or in connection with, the order.

(6) In this section “railway services” has the same meaning as in Part I above.

128 Amendment of section 13 of the Transport Act 1962

(1) Section 13 of the [1962 c. 46.] Transport Act 1962 (which confers on the British Waterways Board and the Board powers to manufacture and produce items for business purposes) shall be amended in accordance with the following provisions of this section.

(2) After subsection (1) (which confers on the Boards power to undertake activities for the purposes of any business falling within paragraphs (a) to (c) of that subsection), there shall be inserted—

“(1A) Subsection (1) of this section shall have effect, in relation to the Railways Board, with the insertion after paragraph (c) of the following—

“(d) of the Rail Regulator,

(e) of any person who provides, or secures the provision of, railway services, within the meaning of Part I of the Railways Act 1993, or

(f) of any person carrying on any undertaking which was, immediately before 1st April 1993, carried on by the Railways Board or any wholly owned subsidiary of that Board,”,

and with the omission of the word “or” immediately preceding that paragraph.”

(3) At the end of that section, there shall be added—

“(9) If the Secretary of State is of the opinion that it is no longer necessary, or no longer desirable, for the Railways Board to conduct any of the activities mentioned in subsection (1) of this section for the purposes of the business of any persons, or of persons of any class or description, mentioned in that subsection, he may by order provide that, as from the date on which the order comes into force, that Board shall cease to have power to conduct the activity in question in relation to the person in question.

(10) An order under subsection (9) of this section may make such consequential amendments or repeals in any enactment as may appear to the Secretary of State to be necessary or expedient for the purposes of, or in connection with, the order.

(11) Any order made under subsection (9) of this section shall be made by statutory instrument, and any such statutory instrument shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.

(12) Any reference in this section to “business” includes, in the case of the Rail Regulator, a reference to the carrying on of any activity in the exercise of his powers or the performance of his duties.”

129 Bye-laws

(1) An independent railway operator may make bye-laws regulating—

(a) the use and working of, and travel on or by means of, any relevant assets;

(b) the maintenance of order on any relevant assets; and

(c) the conduct of all persons while on any relevant assets.

(2) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1) above, an independent railway operator may, in particular, make bye-laws—

(a) with respect to tickets issued for entry upon relevant assets or travel by railway and the evasion of payment of fares or other charges;

(b) with respect to interference with, or obstruction of, the working of any railway or any relevant asset or the provision of any railway service;

(c) with respect to the smoking of tobacco in railway carriages and elsewhere and the prevention of nuisance;

(d) with respect to the receipt and delivery of goods; and

(e) for regulating the passage of bicycles and other vehicles on footways and other premises controlled by him and intended for the use of those on foot.

(3) In section 67 of the [1962 c. 46.] Transport Act 1962, after subsection (9) (confirmation of bye-laws by the Minister) there shall be inserted—

“(9A) The Minister may charge the Board such fees in respect of any bylaws submitted for confirmation under this section as he may consider appropriate for the purpose of defraying any administrative expenses incurred by him in connection therewith.”

(4) Subsections (3) and (5) to (12) of section 67 of the [1962 c. 46.] Transport Act 1962 (procedure for making bye-laws) shall apply in relation to bye-laws under this section as they apply in relation to bye-laws under subsection (1) of that section, but with the substitution for any reference to the Board of a reference to the independent railway operator in question.

(5) Subsection (4) of that section shall apply in relation to bye-laws under this section as it applies in relation to bye-laws under subsection (1) of that section, but—

(a) taking the reference to “a Board” as including a reference to an independent railway operator (and construing the reference to “the Board in question” accordingly); and

(b) taking the reference to “their railway” as including, in the case of that independent railway operator, a reference to any relevant asset.

(6) If and to the extent that, immediately before the coming into force of a transfer scheme, any bye-laws—

(a) made by the Board under section 67 of the [1962 c. 46.] Transport Act 1962, or having effect as if so made, or

(b) made by an independent railway operator under this section, or having effect as if so made,

have effect in relation to an undertaking, or part of an undertaking, transferred by the scheme, those bye-laws shall, as from the coming into force of the transfer scheme in relation to that undertaking or, as the case may be, that part of the undertaking, have effect in relation to the undertaking or part (as the case may be) as bye-laws made under this section by the transferee.

(7) In this section “independent railway operator” means any person, other than the Board, who is authorised by a licence to be the operator of a railway asset or of railway assets of a class or description.

(8) The exclusion of the Board from being an independent railway operator is without prejudice to the Board’s subsidiaries and wholly owned subsidiaries.

(9) For the purposes of this section “relevant assets”, in the case of any independent railway operator, means—

(a) any railway assets in relation to which he is the operator; and

(b) any rolling stock not falling within paragraph (a) above of which he has the management for the time being.

(10) Expressions used in this section and in Part I or II above have the same meaning in this section as they have in that Part.

(11) Apart from the amendment made by subsection (3) above, this section is without prejudice to section 84(3) of the [1962 c. 46.] Transport Act 1962.

(12) Any sums received by the Secretary of State under or by virtue of this section shall be paid into the Consolidated Fund.

130 Penalty fares

(1) The Secretary of State may by regulations make provision for and in connection with—

(a) the imposition of requirements on persons travelling by, present on, or leaving trains or stations to produce, if required to do so in accordance with the regulations, a ticket or other authority authorising them to travel by, be present on, or leave the train or station in question; and

(b) the charging of persons in breach of such requirements to financial penalties (in this section referred to as “penalty fares”) in such circumstances, and subject to compliance with such conditions (if any), as may be prescribed;

and in this section any reference to a ticket or other authority of any description includes a reference to any other document which, under the regulations, is required to be produced in conjunction with any such ticket or other authority, for the purpose of demonstrating that the ticket or other authority produced by a person is valid in his case.

(2) Regulations may make provision for or with respect to—

(a) the persons who may be charged penalty fares;

(b) the persons by or on behalf of whom penalty fares may be charged;

(c) the trains and stations by reference to which penalty fares may be charged;

(d) the amount, or the greatest amount, which a person may be charged by way of penalty fare, whether a specified amount or one determined in a prescribed manner;

(e) the authorising of persons to be collectors;

(f) the manner in which charges to penalty fares may be imposed by collectors, including any requirements to be complied with by or in relation to collectors;

(g) the authorising of collectors in prescribed circumstances to require persons on trains or stations to furnish prescribed information;

(h) the display of prescribed notices in places of a prescribed description;

(j) the manner in which, and the period within which, any penalty fare charged to a person is to be paid;

(k) the issue of prescribed documents to persons who are charged, or who have paid, penalty fares;

(l) the recovery of any unpaid penalty fare as a civil debt, including provision—

(i) for or with respect to defences that are to be available in proceedings for the recovery of an unpaid penalty fare; or

(ii) for presumptions of fact to operate, in such proceedings, in favour of the person charged with the penalty fare, but subject to compliance with prescribed procedural requirements;

(m) the retention, by persons by or on behalf of whom charges to penalty fares are imposed, of sums paid by way of penalty fare;

(n) the remission of liability to pay penalty fares and the repayment of sums paid by way of penalty fare;

(o) the prevention of a person’s being liable both to payment of a penalty fare and to prosecution for a prescribed offence;

(p) the imposition of prohibitions on the charging of penalty fares by or on behalf of persons who are suspected by the Secretary of State or the Regulator, on reasonable grounds, of failing to comply with such requirements imposed by or under the regulations as may be prescribed.

(3) The documents mentioned in subsection (2)(k) above include any document which consists of or includes—

(a) notice of the imposition of a charge to a penalty fare;

(b) a receipt for the payment of a penalty fare; or

(c) a ticket or other authority to travel by, be present on, or leave a train or station.

(4) Regulations may impose, or make provision for and in connection with the imposition or enforcement of, prescribed requirements in prescribed circumstances on or against a holder of a passenger licence or station licence or a passenger service operator (whether or not one by or on behalf of whom penalty fares are or are to be charged); and, without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, any such regulations may make provision with respect to—

(a) the display of notices relating to penalty fares;

(b) the provision of facilities for the issue of tickets or other authorities to travel by, be present on, or leave trains or stations;

(c) the provision of information to prescribed persons or persons of a prescribed class or description.

(5) The functions which may be conferred on the Regulator by regulations include—

(a) functions which involve the exercise by him of judgement or a discretion; and

(b) functions which empower him in prescribed circumstances to impose such conditions or requirements as he may think fit on prescribed persons or on persons of a prescribed class or description.

(6) Regulations may confer power on the Regulator to make by rules any provision which could be made by the Secretary of State by regulations, other than provision for or with respect to any matter specified in—

(a) paragraph (d), (l) or (o) of subsection (2) above; or

(b) subsection (7) below;

and any such rules shall have effect, to such extent as may be prescribed, as if they were regulations.

(7) Regulations may provide that where information is required to be furnished pursuant to the regulations—

(a) a refusal to furnish any such information, or

(b) the furnishing of information which is false in a material particular,

shall, in prescribed circumstances, be an offence punishable on summary conviction by a fine not exceeding level 2 on the standard scale.

(8) Apart from subsection (7) above, nothing in this section creates, or authorises the creation of, any offence.

(9) Regulations may make provision for any area within Great Britain and may make different provision for or in relation to different areas.

(10) Any power of the Regulator to make rules under or by virtue of this section includes power to revoke, amend or re-enact any rules so made; and—

(a) any such rules may make different provision for different cases; and

(b) without prejudice to paragraph (a) above, subsection (9) above shall apply in relation to any such rules as it applies in relation to regulations.

(11) Subsections (2) to (5) above are without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1) above.

(12) In this section—

• “collectors” means the individuals who perform the function (whether as servants or agents or otherwise) of imposing the charge of a penalty fare on the person liable to pay it under the regulations in each particular case;

• “document”, without prejudice to the generality of the expression, includes any badge, token, or photograph or any other form of identification, certification or authentication;

• “prescribed” means specified in, or determined in accordance with, regulations;

• “regulations” means regulations under subsection (1) above;

• “station” includes a reference to a part of a station;

• “ticket or other authority” shall be construed in accordance with subsection (1) above;

• “train” includes a reference to a part of a train;

and, subject to that, expressions used in Part I above and in this section have the same meaning in this section as they have in that Part.

131 Modification of Restrictive Trade Practices Act 1976

(1) The [1976 c. 34.] Restrictive Trade Practices Act 1976 (the “1976 Act”) shall not apply to an agreement relating to the provision of railway services if the making of the agreement, and the inclusion in it of each provision by virtue of which the 1976 Act would (apart from this subsection) apply to the agreement, is required or approved—

(a) by the Secretary of State or the Regulator, in pursuance of any function assigned or transferred to him under or by virtue of any provision of this Act (other than this section);

(b) by or under any agreement the making of which is required or approved by the Secretary of State or the Regulator in pursuance of any such function; or

(c) by or under a licence granted under Part I above.

(2) In subsection (3) below, “relevant agreement” means an agreement—

(a) which relates to the provision of railway services; and

(b) to which (notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (1) above) the 1976 Act applies.

(3) If it appears to the Secretary of State—

(a) that those provisions of a relevant agreement, or of relevant agreements of some particular class or description, by virtue of which the 1976 Act applies to that agreement or those agreements do not have, and are not intended or likely to have, to any significant extent the effect of restricting, distorting or preventing competition, or

(b) that all or any of those provisions have, or are intended or likely to have, that effect to a significant extent, but that the effect is not greater than is necessary for—

(i) the protection of the interests of users of railway services,

(ii) the promotion of the use of any railway network in Great Britain or elsewhere for the carriage of passengers and goods or the development of any such railway network,

(iii) the promotion of efficiency and economy on the part of persons providing railway services, or

(iv) the promotion of measures designed to facilitate the making by passengers of journeys which involve use of the services of more than one passenger service operator,

he may give a direction to the Director requiring him not to make an application to the Restrictive Practices Court under Part I of the 1976 Act in respect of that relevant agreement or, as the case may be, any relevant agreement of that class or description.

(4) The Secretary of State may vary or revoke any direction given under subsection (3) above if he is satisfied that there has been a material change of circumstances such that—

(a) the grounds for the direction have ceased to exist; or

(b) there are grounds for giving a different direction;

and where the Secretary of State so varies or revokes any direction, he shall give notice of the variation or revocation to the Director.

(5) In this section “agreement” has the same meaning as in the 1976 Act; and, subject to that, expressions which are used in this section and in Part I above have the same meaning in this section as they have in that Part.