Protection of rail infrastructure facilities and railway buildings
8 Protection of rail infrastructure facilities and railway buildings
Any railway land (or any railway land on which a railway building or rail infrastructure facility is erected) in or on which rail infrastructure facilities or railway buildings owned by another infrastructure owner or building owner are installed is taken to be the subject of a covenant in favour of the owner pursuant to which the railway land owner (the affected owner) must ensure that—
the rail infrastructure facilities or railway buildings are not wilfully or negligently destroyed, damaged or interfered with by any employee, agent or contractor of the affected owner or any other person within its control, and
the infrastructure owner or building owner or any person issued with a certificate of authority is not delayed or obstructed in and about the taking, in relation to the rail infrastructure facilities or railway buildings, of any step referred to in clause 2(2), and
no structure or object is placed in, on or near the rail infrastructure facilities or railway buildings in a manner that interferes with their operation, and
the infrastructure owner or building owner is notified in writing of any proposed construction, repair, maintenance, alteration, removal, demolition or other similar work on railway land or a railway building or a rail infrastructure facility that threatens or is likely to threaten the safety or operational capacity or efficiency of the owner’s rail infrastructure facilities or railway buildings and that the infrastructure owner or building owner has consented in writing to any such work before it is undertaken, and
the infrastructure owner or building owner is notified in writing of any proposal to sell or otherwise dispose of railway land or railway buildings or rail infrastructure facilities on or in which the owner’s rail infrastructure facilities or railway buildings are situated and that the infrastructure owner or building owner has consented in writing to any such sale or other disposal before it is effected.
A covenant to which this clause relates is enforceable as a duly created covenant.
A lease or licence entered into, whether before or after the commencement of this clause, by a railway land owner as lessor or licensor is taken to include a term requiring the lessee or licensee to comply with the same obligations, in relation to the land and buildings and facilities, the subject of the lease or licence, as are imposed by subclause (1) on the affected owner in relation to the affected owner’s land and buildings and facilities.
It is a defence to proceedings by an infrastructure owner or building owner under this clause that the affected owner or, in a case to which subclause (3) applies, the lessee or licensee from the affected owner, could not reasonably have prevented action taken by any person that would, if capable of prevention by the affected owner, lessee or licensee, have resulted in a breach of covenant by the affected owner, lessee or licensee.
If a person—
places a structure or object in, on or near rail infrastructure facilities or railway buildings owned by an infrastructure owner or building owner that are situated in or on railway land or a railway building or rail infrastructure facility in a manner that interferes with the operation of the facilities or railway buildings, or
carries out, or proposes to carry out, any construction, repair, maintenance, alteration, removal, excavation, demolition or other similar work in, on or near rail infrastructure facilities or railway buildings owned by an infrastructure owner or building owner that are situated in or on railway land or a railway building or rail infrastructure facility in a manner that threatens or is likely to threaten the safety or operational capacity or efficiency of the owner’s rail infrastructure facilities or railway buildings,
the infrastructure owner or building owner may give the person a written notice requiring removal of the structure or object or that the work not be undertaken or, if the work has commenced, that it be stopped, altered or removed within a time and (if appropriate) in the manner specified in the notice.
On the receipt of such a notice, the person to whom it has been given must—
remove the structure or object, or
not undertake, or stop, alter or remove the work, or
reinstate any loss of support caused to the rail infrastructure facilities or railway buildings,
and compensate the infrastructure owner or building owner for all loss or damage suffered by it as a result of the placement of the structure or object on, in or near the facilities or railway buildings or as a result of the undertaking of the work.
If a person fails to comply with a notice under subclause (5) within the period and (if appropriate) the manner specified in the notice or within any extension of that period allowed by the infrastructure owner or building owner in writing, the infrastructure owner or building owner may—
remove the structure or object, or
alter or remove the work, or
reinstate any loss of support caused to the rail infrastructure facilities or railway buildings,
and recover from the person the cost of the alteration or removal together with compensation for all loss or damage referred to in that subclause.
(Repealed)
This Act’s bill:Explanatory memorandum
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