Transport Administration Act 1988

Land above, under or adjacent to an underground rail facility owned by a rail authority is taken to be the subject of a covenant in favour of the rail authority pursuant to which the owner from time to time of that land must ensure that—

the underground rail facility is not wilfully or negligently destroyed, damaged or interfered with, and

no structure or object is placed in contact with or near the underground rail facility in a manner that interferes with the operation of the facility, and

land is not excavated to expose the underground rail facility without the consent of the rail authority.

A lease, including a residential tenancy agreement within the meaning of the Residential Tenancies Act 2010, is taken to include a term requiring the lessee of land referred to in subclause (1) or any part of it to comply with the same obligations, in relation to land, as are imposed by that subclause on the owner who has leased the land to the lessee.

A covenant under this clause is enforceable as a duly created covenant.

It is a defence to proceedings by a rail authority in respect of a covenant under this clause that the owner or, in a case to which subclause (2) applies, the lessee could not reasonably have prevented action taken by any person that would (had it been capable of prevention by the owner or lessee) have resulted in a breach of covenant under this clause by the owner or lessee.