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12 1950

TRANSPORT ACT, 1950

PART III.

General Powers and Duties of the Board.

General powers of the Board.

13. —(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, the Board shall, within or without the State, have, in addition to any other powers vested in, or conferred on, it by any other provision of this Act, power—

(a) to operate transport services,

(b) to consign merchandise,

(c) to enter into and carry out agreements or arrangements with any person carrying on business as a carrier of passengers or merchandise, providing for the carriage of passengers or merchandise by or on behalf of the Board and that other person under one contract or at a through charge or in the same vehicles or containers, whether belonging to the Board or not,

(d) to store merchandise, whether or not that merchandise has been or is to be carried by the Board,

(e) to carry on any hotel, place of refreshment or refreshment service which was carried on by either dissolved undertaker or by any other transport undertaker whose or part of whose transport undertaking is acquired by the Board under this Act and to provide both for its passengers and for other persons, living accommodation, places of refreshment (including hotels and restaurants) and refreshment services,

(f) to provide such amenities and facilities for passengers and other persons as it may appear to the Board requisite or expedient to provide,

(g) to carry on any activities (whether mentioned in any previous paragraph of this subsection or not) which have been carried on by either dissolved undertaker or by any other transport undertaker whose or part of whose transport undertaking is acquired by the Board under this Act,

(h) to construct, manufacture, purchase, hire, let, maintain and repair anything required for the purpose of carrying passengers or merchandise by rail, road, sea or inland waterway or otherwise for the purposes of a transport undertaking,

(i) to provide and equip stations, depots, garages, quays, wharves, jetties, harbours, workshops, offices and other buildings and port facilities, and carry out other works in connection with or for the purposes of its undertaking,

(j) to provide, own, hire, let or use railway rolling stock, road vehicles, ships, barges, lighters, tugs, ferry boats and other vehicles or craft moved, propelled or drawn by mechanical, electrical, animal or other motive power and run and operate the same,

(k) to buy land, or take land on lease or under any form of tenancy,

(l) to make working agreements or arrangements for the provision by any person of transport services which the Board is required or authorised to provide, or for the provision by the Board of any transport services which any other person has power to provide,

(m) to do anything for the purpose of advancing the skill of persons employed or to be employed by the Board or the efficiency of the equipment of the Board or of the manner in which that equipment is operated including the provision by the Board and the assistance towards the provision by others of facilities for training, education and research.

(n) to establish and support, or aid in the establishment and support of, associations, clubs, institutions, funds, trusts and conveniences calculated to promote the welfare of its employees or ex-employees and the dependants or relatives of such employees or ex-employees,

(o) to make payments towards insurance for the benefit of all or any of its employees or ex-employees or the dependants or relatives of such employees or ex-employees,

(p) to subscribe or guarantee money for charitable or benevolent objects or for any institution or any public, general or useful object,

(q) to do all such other things which in the opinion of the Board are calculated to facilitate the proper carrying on of the business of the Board.

(2) For the avoidance of doubt it is hereby declared that subsection (1) of this section relates only to the capacity of the Board as a statutory corporation, and nothing in that subsection shall be construed as authorising the disregard by the Board of any enactment or rule of law.

(3) The Board may dispose, whether absolutely or for a term of years or for any lesser period, of any property which in the opinion of the Board is not required by it for the discharge of its duties.

(4) The provisions of this section shall not be construed as limiting any power of the Board conferred by or under any other provision of this Act.

Conferring of additional powers on the Board.

14. —(1) The Minister may from time to time by order confer on the Board such powers (in addition to those conferred on it by section 13) as the Minister thinks proper and specifies in the order, and any such order may contain such incidental and supplementary provisions as the Minister thinks necessary or expedient for giving full effect to the order.

(2) The Minister may by order revoke or amend any order made under this section (including this subsection).

(3) Every order under this section shall be made with the consent of the Minister for Finance.

(4) An order under this section shall not come into operation unless and until it is confirmed by resolution of each House of the Oireachtas, but shall as from the date of the passing of the later of such resolutions have statutory effect.

General duties of the Board.

15. —(1) It shall be the general duty of the Board so to exercise its powers under this Act as to provide or secure or promote the provision of an efficient, economical, convenient and properly integrated system of public transport for passengers and merchandise by rail, road and water with due regard to safety of operation, the encouragement of national economic development and the maintenance of reasonable conditions of employment for its employees and for that purpose it shall be the duty of the Board to improve in such manner as it considers necessary transport facilities so as to provide for the needs of the public, agriculture, commerce and industry.

(2) It shall be the duty of the Board so to conduct its undertaking as to secure, as soon as may be, that, taking one year with another, the revenue of the Board shall be not less than sufficient to meet the charges properly chargeable to revenue.

(3) All the business carried on by the Board, whether or not arising from undertakings or parts of undertakings vested in or transferred to it under or by virtue of any provision of this Act shall form one undertaking.

(4) Nothing in this section shall be construed as imposing on the Board, either directly or indirectly, any form of duty or liability enforceable by proceedings before any court to which it would not otherwise be subject.

Information by the Board.

16. —The Board shall furnish to the Minister such information as he may from time to time require regarding matters which relate to its activities, other than day-to-day administration, and which appear to him to affect the national interest.

Compulsory acquisition of land.

17. —(1) The Minister may, if and whenever he thinks fit, on the application of the Board, by order (in this section referred to as an acquisition order) authorise the Board for the purpose of the exercise of its powers and duties to acquire compulsorily such land as may be specified in the order.

(2) An acquisition order—

(a) shall provide for the payment of compensation by the Board to the several persons having estates or interests in the land to which the order relates and shall provide that any question of disputed compensation shall be determined under and in accordance with the Acquisition of Land (Assessment of Compensation) Act, 1919, and, for this purpose, the Board shall be deemed to be a public authority within the meaning of the said Act.

(b) may incorporate all or any of the provisions of the Land Clauses Acts, with such modifications and adaptations as the Minister thinks proper.

(3) An acquisition order shall have statutory force and effect.

(4) Whenever the Minister proposes to make an acquisition order—

(a) the Board shall publish, at such time or times and in such manner as the Minister directs, such notice as the Minister directs of the nature of the proposed order,

(b) such notice shall contain an intimation that objections and representations in relation to the proposed order may be furnished in writing to the Minister during a specified period,

(c) in making the order, the Minister shall have regard to the objections and representations (if any) furnished as aforesaid.

(5) (a) Where an acquisition order is made in relation to any land, the Board may, subject to the subsequent provisions of this subsection and before conveyance or ascertainment of compensation, enter on and take possession of the land.

(b) The Board shall not enter on or take possession of any land under paragraph (a) of this subsection without giving to the occupier thereof at least one month's or, in the case of an occupied dwelling house, three months' previous notice in writing of its intention.

(c) A notice under paragraph (b) of this subsection may be given to any person by sending it by prepaid post in an envelope addressed to that person at his usual or last known address.

(d) Where the Board in exercise of its powers under paragraph (a) of this subsection enters on and takes possession of any land any compensation payable in respect of that land to the person who would, from time to time be entitled to occupy it, if the Board had not exercised those powers, shall bear interest at the rate of three per cent. per annum from the date of entry until payment of the compensation.

(6) Whenever the Minister proposes to make an acquisition order in relation to any land the Board shall furnish to the Irish Land Commission particulars of the land to which the proposed acquisition order relates.

Redemption of purchase annuity payable to the Irish Land Commission out of land purchased by the Board.

18. —(1) In this section—

the expression “the Land Commission” means the Irish Land Commission;

the expression “purchase annuity” includes a reclamation annuity and an annual sum equivalent to a purchase annuity.

(2) Whenever the Board buys in exercise of its powers or acquires under section 17 any land which is subject alone to a purchase annuity payable to the Land Commission, the Board shall, if so required by the Land Commission, forthwith redeem the purchase annuity under and in accordance with the Land Purchase Acts.

(3) Whenever the Board buys in exercise of its powers or acquires under section 17 any land (in this subsection referred to as the purchased land) which is subject in conjunction with other land to a purchase annuity payable to the Land Commission—

(a) the Land Commission may apportion the purchase annuity between the purchased land and the other land,

(b) the Board shall, if so required by the Land Commission, forthwith redeem, under and in accordance with the Land Purchase Acts, the part of the purchase annuity so apportioned on the purchased land.

Classification of merchandise.

19. —The Board may adopt such classification of merchandise for the purpose of the application thereto of rates of charges to be made in respect of the carriage of merchandise as the Board thinks fit.

Board's powers as to charges and as to terms and conditions of carriage of merchandise.

20. —(1) In this section—

the word “charges” includes fares, rates or tolls;

the word “services” means any of the following—

(a) the conveyance of passengers and their luggage,

(b) the receiving, forwarding, carrying and delivering of merchandise,

(c) any other transport service or facility;

the expression “the railway classification of merchandise” means the classification of merchandise for the time being in force adopted by the Board for the purposes of the application of rates of charges to be made by the Board for the carriage of merchandise by rail;

the expression “the canal classification of merchandise” means the classification of merchandise for the time being in force adopted by the Board for the purposes of the application of rates of charges to be made by the Board in respect of the carriage of merchandise by inland waterway.

(2) The Board may fix, demand, take and recover such charges as the Board thinks fit for services provided by it.

(3) Where the Board agrees with a trader for the carriage of his merchandise at charges which represent a reasonable commutation of the charges otherwise applicable to the merchandise of that trader carried by the Board, the Board may, notwithstanding anything contained in any enactment, make as regards the carrying of that trader's merchandise the charges so agreed.

(4) (a) The Board shall keep for sale copies of the following:—

(i) the railway classification of merchandise,

(ii) the canal classification of merchandise,

(iii) scales of charges made, in conjunction with the railway and canal classifications of merchandise, by the Board in respect of the carriage of merchandise by rail and inland waterway.

(b) The Board shall keep for public inspection at its principal office copies of the following:—

(i) the railway classification of merchandise,

(ii) the canal classification of merchandise,

(iii) scales of charges made, in conjunction with the railway and canal classifications of merchandise, by the Board in respect of the carriage of merchandise by rail and inland waterway.

(c) The Board shall keep for public inspection at each depot owned by it at which merchandise is received for carriage by rail a copy of each of the following:—

(i) the railway classification of merchandise,

(ii) scales of charges made, in conjunction with the railway classification of merchandise, by the Board for the carriage of merchandise by rail from that depot.

(d) The Board shall keep for public inspection at each depot owned by it at which merchandise is received for carriage by inland waterway, a copy of each of the following:—

(i) the canal classification of merchandise,

(ii) scales of charges made, in conjunction with the canal classification of merchandise, by the Board in respect of the carriage of merchandise by inland waterway from that depot.

(5) (a) The Board may attach to the services afforded by it such terms and conditions as the Board thinks fit.

(b) Any carriage of merchandise by rail by the Board which is in accordance with the terms and conditions contained in Statutory Rule and Order No. 13 of 1930 shall be deemed to be carriage of that merchandise under terms and conditions which are just and reasonable.

(c) Unless otherwise specified in writing by the Board, all merchandise carried by the Board by rail shall be deemed to be carried subject to the terms and conditions contained in Statutory Rule and Order No. 13 of 1930.

Abandonment of a railway line by the Board.

21. —(1) In this section—

the expression “road authority” has the same meaning as in the Local Government Act, 1946 (No. 24 of 1946);

the expression “railway line” includes a section of railway line; the expression “public road” means any road which a road authority is under a statutory obligation to maintain.

(2) (a) Where—

(i) an order has been made under section 9 of the Railways Act, 1933 (No. 9 of 1933), authorising the termination of all train services run over a specified railway line owned or operated by the Board, or

(ii) an order has been made under section 55 exempting the Board from the obligation to operate a service of trains over a specified railway line or to restore any service of trains over a specified railway line which has been temporarily discontinued under the Emergency Powers (Córas Iompair Éireann) (Reduction of Railway Services) Order, 1944 (S. R. & O., No. 354 of 1944), and the order relates to all services of trains over that specified railway line and is not expressed to be in operation for a specified period,

then, the Board may, subject to this subsection, by order (in this section referred to as an abandonment order) declare its intention of abandoning that railway line.

(b) An abandonment order shall operate as an authority to the Board to abandon the railway line to which the order relates.

(c) The Board shall not make an abandonment order in relation to a railway line, unless at least one month before making the order, the Board—

(i) has published, in the Iris Oifigiúil and in such newspapers, circulating in the district in which the railway line is situate, as the Board thinks proper, notice of its intention to make the order, and

(ii) has served a notice of its intention to make the order on every road authority within whose functional area the railway line is situate.

(d) Every abandonment order shall specify the date on which it is to come into force.

(3) Where an abandonment order has been made in relation to a railway line, 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 Board was, 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 Board shall, for the purposes of this paragraph, appoint a date (in this paragraph referred to as the appointed date) which shall not be earlier than twelve months after the operative date,

(ii) the Board and the road authority, charged 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 Board to maintain the bridge shall cease upon the execution of the agreement.

(iii) if no such agreement is so executed, but the Board removes the superstructure of the bridge before the appointed date, then—

(I) the liability of the Board to maintain the bridge shall cease as on and from the date of removal, and

(II) the road 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 Board shall pay to the road authority compensation for any expenses which the road authority may incur by reason of the liability so imposed on them;

(iv) if no such agreement is so executed and if the superstructure of the bridge is not so removed, then—

(I) the liability of the Board to maintain the bridge shall cease on the appointed date, and

(II) the road authority shall, as on and from the appointed date, be liable to maintain the bridge, and

(III) the Board shall pay to the road authority compensation for any expenses which the road 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 Board was, immediately before the operative date, under a liability to maintain—

(i) the Board shall, for the purposes of this paragraph, appoint a date (in this paragraph referred to as the appointed date) which shall not be earlier than twelve months after the operative date,

(ii) the Board and the road authority charged 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 Board 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 Board to maintain the bridge shall cease on the appointed date, and

(II) as on and from the appointed date, the road authority shall be liable to maintain the bridge, and

(III) the Board shall pay to the road authority compensation for any expenses which the road authority may incur by reason of the liability so imposed on them,

(iv) references in this paragraph to the liability to maintain a bridge shall, in case the Board was immediately before the operative date under a liability to maintain any approaches (including the surface of a road, pavements, earthworks, fences, drains or works) to the bridge, be construed as references to the liability to maintain the bridge and those approaches;

(c) if the railway line crosses on the level any public road, the Board shall, as soon as conveniently may be, 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 Board to maintain the said part in repair shall cease;

(d) the liability, imposed on the Board by section 68 of the Railways' Clauses Consolidation Act, 1845, to maintain any works (other than bridges, arches or culverts 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 Board shall pay to any owner or occupier of land adjoining the railway line for the accommodation of whom any such works were made in pursuance of the said section 68 and which the Board was 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 Board to maintain those works;

(e) where any structure (being a bridge, arch or culvert which the Board was immediately before the operative date liable to maintain) was, in pursuance of section 68 of the said Railways' Clauses Consolidation Act, 1845, made over or under the railway line for the accommodation of owners and occupiers of land adjoining the railway line—

(i) if the Board, before the expiration of the period of twelve months commencing on the operative date, commence the following works, namely, the replacement of the said structure by a crossing on the level over the site of the abandoned railway and the rendering of the said crossing fit and safe for use, then, as from the completion of the said works, the liability of the Board shall cease and it shall not thereafter be under any obligation to maintain the said crossing in repair,

(ii) if the Board does not before the expiration of the said period commence the said works—

(I) the Board shall as on and from the expiration of the said period cease to be liable to maintain the said structure,

(II) the Board shall pay to any owner or occupier of the land adjoining the railway line for the accommodation of whom the said structure 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 Board to maintain the said structure,

(iii) where, immediately before the operative date, a right of way was exercisable over the said structure—

(I) in case the Board, before the expiration of the period referred to in subparagraph (i) of this paragraph, commences the works referred to in the said subparagraph (i), then, as from the completion of the said works, a right of way similar to that which was exercisable over the said structure shall, by virtue of this subparagraph, 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 structure 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 structure fit and safe for use.

(4) Where compensation is payable by the Board 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, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, fix the remuneration of the said arbitrator and such remuneration shall be paid by the Board.

(5) The arbitrator appointed to determine the compensation payable by the Board to any person under this section may having regard (amongst other matters) to any unconditional offer of compensation made by the Board and not accepted by that person or to any unconditional offer by that person, to accept a certain sum as compensation and not accepted by the Board by his award and at his discretion—

(a) direct the Board 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 Board, or

(c) direct the Board and that person respectively to abide their own costs and expenses.

(6) The Abandonment of Railways Act, 1850, shall not apply to any railway line in respect of which an abandonment order is made.

(7) Where an abandonment order has been made in respect of any railway line, the Board may sell the land 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.

(8) The functions of a road authority under this section shall—

(a) in case the road authority is the corporation of a county borough, be a reserved function for the purposes of the enactments relating to that corporation,

(b) in any other case, be a reserved function for the purposes of the County Management Acts, 1940 and 1942.

Power of the Board to make bye laws.

22. —(1) The Board may make bye-laws for all or any of the following purposes:—

(a) for regulating the times of arrival and departure of its vehicles or craft;

(b) for regulating the loading and unloading of its vehicles or craft and, subject to any statutory provisions in that behalf, the weights which its vehicles and craft are to carry;

(c) for regulating the receipt and delivery of merchandise and other things which are to be carried on its vehicles or craft;

(d) for preventing the commission of nuisances in or upon its vehicles or craft or the stations, depots or other premises occupied by the Board;

(e) for maintaining order in and regulating the use of the stations, depots or other premises occupied by the Board and the approaches thereto;

(f) for any purpose for which either dissolved undertaker had, immediately before the establishment date, power to make bye-laws;

(g) for providing for the safe custody and re-delivery or disposal of any property found on or in any premises, vessels or vehicles belonging to the Board and for fixing the charges to be made by the Board in respect thereof;

(h) generally for regulating, subject to any statutory provisions in that behalf, the travelling upon or using of its vehicles or craft and the working of the transport services provided by the Board.

(2) The Board shall submit to the Minister for confirmation any bye-laws made by it under this section, and thereupon the following provisions shall have effect:—

(a) the Board shall, as soon as conveniently may be after the submission, publish a notice of the submission at least once in each of two successive weeks in each of the daily morning newspapers published in and circulating in the State;

(b) the notice shall include—

(i) a statement of the purposes for which the bye-laws are made, and

(ii) an intimation that a copy of the bye-laws is open for public inspection at the principal office in the State of the Board, and

(iii) an intimation that any person may submit to the Minister objections to the confirmation of the bye-laws at any time during the period of thirty days commencing on the date of the first publication of the notice;

(c) the Board shall, during the said period of thirty days, keep a copy of the bye-laws open for public inspection during ordinary office hours at its principal office aforesaid;

(d) any person who objects to the confirmation of the bye-laws may, at any time during the said period of thirty days, submit his objections in writing to the Minister;

(e) the Minister shall, as he thinks proper, refuse to confirm the bye-laws or by order confirm the bye-laws without modification or with such modifications as he thinks proper and inserts in the bye-laws, but, if he approves (with or without modification) of the bye-laws he shall not do so until the expiration of the said period of thirty days and until he has considered any objections to the confirmation submitted to him during that period.

(3) Bye-laws made by the Board under this section shall come into operation if, but only if, they are confirmed by order under this section, and if they are so confirmed, the day on which they shall come into operation shall be the day specified in that behalf in the order confirming them.

(4) Where a person contravenes a provision of bye-laws made under this section which is stated in the bye-laws to be a penal provision, he shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding ten pounds.

(5) Bye-laws made under this section which have been confirmed by order under this section shall be published in such manner as the Minister may direct.

(6) Bye-laws made under this section shall not prejudice or affect the operation of any bye-laws made under or in pursuance of any statutory provisions by any harbour or sanitary authority.

(7) A document which purports to be a copy of bye-laws made under this section and which has endorsed thereon a certificate (purporting to be signed by an officer of the Board authorised in that behalf) stating that the document is a true copy of the bye-laws and that the bye-laws were in force on a specified date shall, without proof of the signature of such officer or that he was in fact such officer or was so authorised, be evidence (until the contrary is proved) in every court and in all legal proceedings of the bye-laws and of the fact that they were in force on the date so specified.

(8) (a) In this subsection the expression “former transport company” means any company being—

(i) an absorbed company or an amalgamated company, within the meaning of the Railways Act, 1924 (No. 29 of 1924),

(ii) a dissolved company, within the meaning of the Act of 1944, or

(iii) either dissolved undertaker.

(b) All bye-laws made by any former transport company and which are in force immediately before the establishment date shall, on and after the establishment date, continue in force and be deemed to have been made under this section and shall be capable of being amended or revoked by bye-laws made under this section.

(9) Every order under this section shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made, and if a resolution annulling the order is passed by either House of the Oireachtas within the next twenty-one days upon which that House has sat after the order has been laid before it, the order shall be annulled accordingly but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.

(10) Section 127 of the Road Traffic Act, 1933 (No. 11 of 1933), shall not apply to property left in public service vehicles owned or operated by the Board.