Law Consolidating India’s Largest Railways Network

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Law Consolidating

Written By:– Aayushi Singh

Introduction

Indians Railways: Indian Railways is a statutory body under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Railways, the Government of India that operates India’s national railway system. The Indian Railway’s track is spread across a massive 115,000km, making it the largest rail network in Asia and the world’s second-largest network operated under single management.

History of Railways in India

The first railway proposals for India were made in Madras in 1832. The country’s first train, Red Hill Railway built by Arthur Cotton to transport granite for road-building, ran from Red Hills to the Chintadripet bridge in Madras in 1837. In 1845, the Godavari Dam Construction of a dam over the Godavari River. In 1851, the Solani Aqueduct Railway was built by Proby Cautley in Roorkee to transport construction materials for an aqueduct over the Solani River.

India’s first passenger train, operated by the Great Indian Peninsula Railway and hauled by three steam locomotives (Sahib, Sindh and Sultan), ran for 34 kilometres with 400 people in 14 carriages on 1,676 mm broad gauge track between Bori Bunder (Mumbai) and Thane on 16 April 1853. The Thane viaducts, India’s first railway bridges, were built over the Thane creek when the Mumbai-Thane line was extended to Kalyan in May 1854. Eastern India’s first passenger train ran 39 km from Howrah, near Kolkata, to Hoogly on 15 August 1854. The first passenger train in South India ran 97 km from Royapuram-Veyasarapady (Madras) to Wallajah Road (Arcot) on 1 July 1856.

Indian Railway is the world’s fourth-largest railway US, Russia, and China.

Currently, Uttar Pradesh is India’s Largest route kilometres are in Uttar Pradesh with 8726Km. This comes out to be 13.6% of India’s total Route Kilometers.

Law Consolidating India’s Largest Railways Network

The Railways Act,1989 is an Act of the Parliament of India which regulates all aspects of rail transport. The act came into force in 1989, this replaced the railway’s act of 1890. The Act provides in detail the legislative provisions regarding railways zones, construction and maintenance of works, passengers, and employee services.  

According to this act, a railway administration may make or construct in or upon, across, under or over any lands, or any streets, hills, valleys, roads, railway, tramways, or any rivers, canals, brooks, streams, or other waters, or any drains, water-pipes, gas-pipes, oil-pipes, sewers. electric supply lines, or telegraph lines such, temporary or permanent inclined planes, bridges, tunnels, culverts, embankments, aqueducts, roads, lines of rails, ways, passages, conduits, drains, piers, cuttings and fences, in-take wells, tube wells, dams, river training and protection works as it thinks proper; alter the course of many rivers, brooks, streams or other watercourses, for the purpose of constructing and maintaining tunnels, bridges, passages or other works over or under them and divert or alter either temporarily or permanently.

Streets or ways, or raise or sink the level thereof, in order to carry them more conveniently over or under, or by the side of the railway, make drains or conduits into, through or under any lands adjoining the railway for the purpose of conveying water from or to the railway; erect and construct such houses, warehouses, offices and other buildings, and such yards, stations, wharves, engines, machinery apparatus and other works and conveniences as the railway administration thinks proper, alter, repair or discontinue such buildings, works and conveniences as aforesaid or any of them and substitute others in their stead; erect operate, maintain or repair any telegraph and telephone lines in connection with the working of the railway, erect operate, maintain or repair any electric traction equipment, power supply and distribution installation in connection with the working of the railway; and do all other acts necessary for making, maintaining, altering or repairing and using the railway.

According to the act, any accident attended with loss of any human life, or with grievous hurt, as defined in the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860), or with such serious injury to property as may be prescribed; or any collision between trains of which one is a train carrying passengers; or the derailment of any train carrying passengers, or of any part of such train; or any accident of a description usually attended with loss of human life or with such grievous hurt as aforesaid or with serious injury to property;

or any accident of any other description which the Central Government may notify in this behalf in the Official Gazette, occurs, the station master of the station nearest to the place at which the accident occurs or where there is no station master, the railway servant in charge of the section of the railway on which the accident occurs, shall, without delay, give notice of the accident to the District Magistrate and Superintendent of Police, within whose jurisdiction the accident occurs.[1]

Conclusion

Indian Railway is the fourth Largest railways network in the world. There is specific law regarding the Railway system. 143 Penalty for unauthorised carrying on of the business of procuring and supplying for railway tickets.


[1] http://www.indianrailways.gov.in/railwayboard/uploads/codesmanual/Railway_Act.PDF