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A | |
Bill | |
[AS AMENDED IN STANDING COMMITTEE D] | |
To | |
Make provision about railways, including tramways; to make provision about | |
transport safety; and for connected purposes. | |
Be it enacted by the Queen’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and | |
consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present | |
Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:— | |
Part 1 | |
Investigation of Railway Accidents | |
Introduction | |
1 Meaning of “railway” and “railway property” | |
(1) In this Part— | 5 |
“railway” means a railway or tramway within the meaning given by | |
section 67 of the Transport and Works Act 1992 (c. 42), and | |
“railway property” means anything which falls within the definition of | |
“light maintenance depot”, “network”, “rolling stock”, “station” or | |
“track” in section 83 of the Railways Act 1993 (c. 43), or which falls | 10 |
within the equivalent of any those definitions in relation to a tramway. | |
(2) The Secretary of State may by regulations amend this section. | |
(3) This section is subject to section 13(2). | |
2 Meaning of “railway accident” and “railway incident” | |
(1) In this Part a reference to a railway accident or railway incident is a reference | 15 |
to an accident or incident which occurs on railway property in so far as it is or | |
may be relevant to the operation of the railway. | |
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(2) The Secretary of State may by regulations— | |
(a) make provision about what is to be or not to be treated as an accident | |
or incident for the purposes of this Part; | |
(b) make provision about circumstances in which an accident or incident is | |
to be or not to be treated as being relevant to the operation of a railway | 5 |
for the purposes of this Part; | |
(c) make provision about when an accident is to be treated as serious for | |
the purposes of this Part. | |
(3) Regulations under subsection (2) may, in particular, make provision by | |
reference to the exercise of a discretion by the Chief Inspector of Rail Accidents. | 10 |
(4) Regulations under subsection (2) making provision about what is to be treated | |
as an incident may, in particular, include an event or omission which does not | |
cause damage or loss but which might cause damage or loss in different | |
circumstances. | |
The Rail Accident Investigation Branch | 15 |
3 Establishment | |
(1) The Secretary of State shall appoint persons as inspectors of rail accidents. | |
(2) The Secretary of State shall appoint one of the inspectors as the Chief Inspector | |
of Rail Accidents. | |
(3) The inspectors appointed under this section may be referred to as the Rail | 20 |
Accident Investigation Branch (being a branch of the department of the | |
Secretary of State who appoints them). | |
(4) An inspector of rail accidents shall carry out such of the functions of the Rail | |
Accident Investigation Branch as may be assigned to him by the Chief | |
Inspector of Rail Accidents. | 25 |
4 General aims | |
In exercising their functions the Rail Accident Investigation Branch shall have | |
regard to the desirability of— | |
(a) improving the safety of railways, and | |
(b) preventing railway accidents and railway incidents. | 30 |
5 Assistance to others | |
The Chief Inspector of Rail Accidents may arrange for the Rail Accident | |
Investigation Branch to assist any person; in particular, assistance— | |
(a) may be provided with or without charge; | |
(b) may be provided inside or outside the United Kingdom. | 35 |
Investigation by Branch | |
6 Investigations | |
(1) The Rail Accident Investigation Branch— | |
(a) shall investigate any serious railway accident, | |
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(b) may investigate a non-serious railway accident or a railway incident, | |
and | |
(c) shall investigate a non-serious railway accident or a railway incident if | |
required to do so by or in accordance with regulations made by the | |
Secretary of State. | 5 |
(2) For the purposes of subsection (1)(a) a tramway shall not be treated as a | |
railway (despite section 1(1)). | |
(3) In investigating an accident or incident the Branch shall try to determine what | |
caused it. | |
(4) On completion of an investigation the Branch shall report to the Secretary of | 10 |
State. | |
(5) In performing a function in relation to an accident or incident the Branch— | |
(a) shall not consider or determine blame or liability, but | |
(b) may determine and report on a cause of an accident or incident whether | |
or not blame or liability is likely to be inferred from the determination | 15 |
or report. | |
(6) The Branch may conduct an investigation and report whether or not civil or | |
criminal proceedings are in progress or may be instituted (but this subsection | |
is without prejudice to the operation of the law of contempt of court). | |
(7) The Chief Inspector of Rail Accidents may apply to the High Court or the | 20 |
Crown Court for a declaration that the making of a report in connection with a | |
specified accident or incident will not amount to a contempt of court in relation | |
to civil or criminal proceedings which have been or may be instituted in | |
connection with the accident or incident. | |
(8) The Chief Inspector of Rail Accidents may reopen an investigation if he | 25 |
believes that significant new evidence may be available. | |
7 Investigator’s powers | |
(1) For the purpose of conducting an investigation by virtue of section 6 an | |
inspector of rail accidents may, provided that he produces evidence of his | |
identity if asked to do so— | 30 |
(a) enter railway property; | |
(b) enter land (which may include a dwelling-house) which adjoins or | |
abuts railway property; | |
(c) enter a vehicle or structure which is on railway property or which is on | |
land which could be entered under paragraph (b); | 35 |
(d) enter land which does not fall within paragraph (a), (b) or (c) if— | |
(i) it is used wholly or partly for the purposes of or in connection | |
with anything done on or with railway property, or | |
(ii) the inspector reasonably believes that it may contain evidence | |
relating to an accident or incident; | 40 |
(e) in entering anything under paragraph (a), (b), (c) or (d), be | |
accompanied by one or more persons authorised by the Chief Inspector | |
of Rail Accidents for that purpose (whether generally or specifically); | |
(f) in entering anything under paragraph (a), (b), (c) or (d), make | |
arrangements to have with him equipment or materials. | 45 |
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(2) For the purpose of conducting an investigation by virtue of section 6 an | |
inspector of rail accidents may— | |
(a) make a written, electronic, photographic or other record; | |
(b) remove and retain samples; | |
(c) arrange for anything to be removed and retained for the purpose of | 5 |
analysis or other examination or for the purpose of preserving | |
evidence; | |
(d) require access to a record or to recording equipment; | |
(e) require a person to answer a question; | |
(f) require a person to provide information; | 10 |
(g) require a person to disclose a record; | |
(h) require a person to provide a copy of a record; | |
(i) require disclosure of the result of an examination of a person, body or | |
thing; | |
(j) require a person to certify the truth, accuracy or authenticity of a | 15 |
statement made, of information or a document provided or of a record | |
disclosed. | |
(3) A person commits an offence if without reasonable excuse he— | |
(a) fails to comply with a requirement imposed by an inspector of rail | |
accidents for the purpose of an investigation by virtue of section 6, | 20 |
(b) makes a statement for the purpose of an investigation by virtue of | |
section 6 knowing or suspecting that the statement is inaccurate or | |
misleading, | |
(c) provides information or a record for the purpose of an investigation by | |
virtue of section 6 knowing or suspecting that the information or record | 25 |
is inaccurate or misleading, | |
(d) obstructs an inspector of rail accidents in the course of his conduct of an | |
investigation by virtue of section 6, | |
(e) obstructs a person accompanying an inspector of rail accidents under | |
subsection (1)(e), or | 30 |
(f) obstructs a person exercising a power of an inspector by virtue of | |
regulations under section 8(1)(d). | |
(4) A person who is guilty of an offence under subsection (3) shall be liable on | |
summary conviction to— | |
(a) imprisonment for a term not exceeding 51 weeks, | 35 |
(b) a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale, or | |
(c) both. | |
(5) Subsection (6) applies where— | |
(a) the Rail Accident Investigation Branch is conducting an investigation | |
by virtue of section 6 in respect of an accident or incident, and | 40 |
(b) a question arises as to the desirability of action which any other person | |
proposes to take for the purpose of investigating the accident or | |
incident. | |
(6) The question may be determined by— | |
(a) the Chief Inspector of Rail Accidents, or | 45 |
(b) an inspector of rail accidents acting on behalf of the Chief Inspector. | |
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