Citation and commencement

1.  This Order may be cited as the North Tyneside Steam Railway LightRailway Order 1991 and shall come into force on 28th March 1991.

Interpretation

2.—(1) In this Order, unless the context otherwise requires, the followingwords and expressions have the meanings hereby respectively assigned tothem, that is to say:—

“the Board” means the British Railways Board;

“the Board’s railway” means—

and includes all the land and works relating thereto;

“the Council” means the Council of the Borough of North Tyneside;

“the deposited plans” and“the deposited sections” mean respectively the plans and sections deposited in respect ofthe application for this Order with the Department of Transport;

“the principal Act” means the Light Railways Act 1896;

“the railways” means the railways authorised to be constructed, made andmaintained in accordance with article 5 of this Order;

“the Trustees of the Duke of Northumberland” means the trustees for the time being of the Duke ofNorthumberland’s settlement dated 19th April 1972.

(2) Reference points specified in this Order shall be construed asreferences to Ordnance Survey National Grid reference points.

Incorporation of general Acts

3.—(1) The provisions of the Railways Clauses Consolidation Act 1845(7) except sections 8 to 15, 17, 32 to 44, 47 to 57, 59 to63, 69 to 74, 88 to 95, and 115 to 124 are incorporated with and formpart of this Order, so far as the same are applicable for the purposesof and are not inconsistent with or varied by the provisions of thisOrder, and this Order shall be the special Act for the purposes of thoseincorporated provisions.

(2) Subject to the provisions of this Order such of the enactments setout in the Second Schedule to the principal Act as are still in force(except section 22 of the Regulation of Railways Act 1868(8) (means of communication between passengers and theCompany’s servants to be provided) and sections 1 and 5 of theRegulation of Railways Act 1889(9) (power to order certain provisions to be made for publicsafety and penalty for avoiding payment of fare)) shall not apply to therailways.

(3) In its application to the railways the said section 22 of theRegulation of Railways Act 1868 shall have effect as if the words“and travels more than twenty miles without stopping” were omitted therefrom.

(4) In their application to the railways sections 78 to 85 of theRailways Clauses Consolidation Act 1845 shall have effect as originallyenacted and not as amended for certain purposes by section 15 of theMines (Working Facilities and Support) Act 1923(10).

(5) Without prejudice to the foregoing provisions of this article,sections 116 to 118 of the Transport Act 1968 shall apply to therailways as if references in those sections to the Board were referencesto the Council.

(6) In their application to the railways, the provisions of the RailwaysClauses Consolidation Act 1845 incorporated with this Order shall haveeffect as if any reference to the clerk of the peace were a reference tothe proper officer of the Council.

Transfer of Board’s railway to Council

4.—(1) The Board and the Council may enter into and carry into effectagreements providing for the transfer to and the vesting in the Councilof the Board’s railway or any part thereof on such terms and conditionsas may be agreed between the Board and the Council.

(2) Except as may be otherwise provided in this Order, where anyagreement is made under this article, as from the transferdate—

(a)the Council shall to the exclusion of the Board be entitled to thebenefit of, and to exercise all rights, powers and privileges and besubject to all obligations statutory or otherwise relating to thetransferred railway (insofar as the same are still subsisting andcapable of taking effect) to the intent that the Board shall be releasedfrom all such obligations; and

(b)the transferred railway shall be subject to all statutory and otherprovisions applicable to the Board’s railway (insofar as the same arestill subsisting and capable of taking effect).

(3) In this article, in relation to an agreement made under thisarticle—

(a)“the transfer date” means the date on which the Board’s railway or any part thereof isvested in the Council by virtue of the agreement; and

(b)“the transferred railway” means so much of the Board’s railway as is vested in the Council byvirtue of the agreement.

Power to make and maintain railways

5.  Subject to the provisions of this Order, the Council may, in thelines or situations and within the limits of deviation shown on thedeposited plans and according to the levels shown on the depositedsections, construct, make and maintain, in the County of Tyne and Wearin the Metropolitan Borough of North Tyneside, the following railwaystogether with all necessary works and conveniences connectedtherewith—

(a)on land owned by them, the railway described as Railway No. 1 inthe Schedule to this Order;

(b)on such part of the line of the Board’s railway as is transferredby virtue of any agreement made under article 4 of this Orderand—

(i)as to part, on land owned by the Trustees of the Duke ofNorthumberland and leased by them to the Board,

(ii)as to part, on land owned by the Council, and

(iii)as to the remainder, on land owned by the Council and subjectto a Lease of Wayleave dated 14th April 1939,

the railway described as Railway No. 2 in the Schedule to thisOrder; and

(c)on such part of the line of the Board’s railway as is transferredby virtue of any agreement made under article 4 of this Order,and—

(i)as to part, on land owned by the Trustees of the Duke ofNorthumberland and leased by them to the Board, and

(ii)as to the remainder, on land owned by the Council,

the railway described as Railway No. 3 in the Schedule to thisOrder.

Power to work and maintain railways as a light railway

6.  Subject to the provisions of this Order, the Council may work andmaintain the railways as a light railway under the principal Act.

Power to deviate

7.  In the construction of the railways or any part thereof the Councilmay deviate from the line or situation thereof shown on the depositedplans to the extent of the limits of deviation shown on the depositedplans and may deviate vertically from the levels shown on the depositedsections to any extent not exceeding three metres upwards and threemetres downwards.

As to crossing of footpath on level

8.—(1) The Council may in the construction of Railway No. 3 carry the samewith a single line of rails across and on the level of the footpathbetween the points marked A and B on the deposited plans and nothing inthis Order contained or incorporated shall require the provision ofkeepers at the said crossing.

(2) The Council shall provide and maintain at the saidcrossing—

(a)a self-closing wicket gate, opening away from the line, on eachside of the railway, and

(b)signs bearing the wording "STOP, LOOK AND LISTEN' on each side ofthe railway facing towards pedestrians approaching the level crossing.

Gauge of railway and motive power

9.  The railways shall be constructed on a gauge of 1.435 metres orthereabouts and the motive power shall be steam or internal combustionor such other motive power as the Secretary of State may approve:

• Provided that nothing in this Order shall authorise the Council to useelectrical power as motive power unless such power is obtained fromstorage batteries or from a source of generation entirely contained inand carried along with the engine and carriages:

• Provided also that if electrical power is used on the railways, such electrical power shall not be used in such a manner as to cause or be likely to cause any interference with any telecommunication apparatus as defined in the telecommunications code contained in Schedule 2 to the Telecommunications Act 1984(11) or with telecommunications by means of any suchapparatus.

Restriction of weight on rails and of speed: conveyance ofpassengers

10.—(1) The Council shall not use upon the railways any engine, carriage ortruck bringing any weight upon the rails by any one pair of wheelsexceeding such weight as the Secretary of State may allow.

(2) The Council shall not run any train or engine upon any part of therailways at a rate of speed exceeding at any time that fixed by theSecretary of State for such part.

(3) No part of the railways shall be used for the conveyance ofpassengers without the permission in writing of the Secretary of Statebeing first had and obtained and the Council shall comply with theconditions (if any) which the Secretary of State may from time to timeprescribe for the safety of persons using the railways.

(4) If the Council contravene any of the provisions of this article theyshall for each offence be liable on summary conviction to a fine notexceeding level 2 on the standard scale.

Public liability insurance

11.—(1) In this article“insurer” means any insurer or insurers authorised under the InsuranceCompanies Act 1982(12) to carry on in the United Kingdom insurance business ofa relevant class or who has corresponding authorisation under the law ofanother member State of the European Economic Community.

(2) The Council shall at all times maintain a public liability policywith an insurer providing cover of not less than one million pounds inrespect of any one accident on or occasioned by the operation of therailways and the adequacy of the cover provided by the policy shall beregularly reviewed by the Council.

(3) The Council shall not work the railways unless there is in force apublic liability policy in accordance with the provisions of thisarticle.

(4) If the Council fail to comply with the provisions of this articlethey shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level5 on the standard scale or on conviction on indictment to a fine.

For protection of public undertakers

12.  Nothing in this Order shall prejudice or affect the rightsof—

(a)any public gas supplier, within the meaning of Part 1 of the GasAct 1986(13), or

(b)Northumbrian Water Limited,

in any apparatus belonging to them or for the maintenance of whichthey are responsible, or any structure for the lodging therein ofapparatus, being any apparatus or structure situate under, over or uponlands in or upon which the railways are constructed.

SCHEDULE

Railway No. 1

A railway (585 metres in length) commencing at reference point NZ 432210/569225 at a public highway known as Middle Engine Lane at a point to the west of and adjacent to the Stephenson Railway Museum and extending in a south easterly direction and terminating at reference point NZ 432710/568712;

Railway No. 2

A railway (255 metres in length) commencing by a junction with the termination of Railway No. 1 and extending in a south easterly direction and terminating at Bluehouse underbridge at reference point NZ 432764/568620;

Railway No. 3

A railway (1610 metres in length) commencing by a junction with the termination of Railway No. 2 and extending in a south easterly and then a southerly direction and terminating at reference point NZ 433560/567291 at a point 9.32 metres north of the Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Executive Metro Bridge No. 1183.