Construction of of the owners and occupiers of lands adjoining the railway: Accommodation Such and so many convenient gates, bridges, arches, Also all necessary arches, tunnels, culverts, drains, or (x) By 5 & 6 Vict. c. 55, (to the provisions of which special railway acts are now invariably made liable), it is enacted, that railway companies shall be under the same liability of obligation to erect and to maintain and repair good and sufficient fences throughout the whole of the respective lines, as they would have been if every part of such fences had been originally ordered to be made under an order of justices, by virtue of the provision to that effect in the acts of Parliament relating to such railways respectively. (Sect. 10, post, App., 23). The meaning of the above enactment is not very clearly expressed, and no specific remedy is pointed out. cient at all times to convey the water as clearly from the lands lying near or affected by the railway as before the making of the railway, or as nearly so as may be; and such works shall be made, from time to time, as the railway works proceed: Also proper watering-places for cattle, where, by reason of the railway, the cattle of any person occupying any lands lying near thereto shall be deprived of access to their former watering-places; and such watering-places shall be so made as to be at all times as sufficiently supplied with water as theretofore, and as if the railway had not been made, or as nearly so as may be; and the company shall make all necessary watercourses and drains, for the purpose of conveying water to the said watering-places (y) : Provided always, that the company shall not be required to make such accommodation works in such a manner as would prevent or obstruct the working or using of the railway, nor to make any accommodation works with respect to which the owners and occupiers of the lands shall have agreed to receive, and shall have been paid, compensation, instead of the making them. (Id., s. 68, post, App., 177). If any difference arises as to the kind or number of the accommodation works, or as to maintaining them, the same may be determined by two justices, (Id., s. 69, post, App., 178); and if the company fail to obey the justices' order, the party aggrieved may execute the works or repairs himself, and the expenses shall be repaid by the company; and any dispute about the expenses shall be settled by two justices; but the railway must not be obstructed or injured for a longer time than is unavoidably necessary for the execution of the accommodation works. (Id., s. 70, post, App., (y) See R. v. The York and North Midland Railway Company, post, 396. Construction of Accommodation 178). If the owners or occupiers of lands consider the accommodation works insufficient for the commodious use of their lands, they may, at their own expense, make such further works as shall be agreed by the company, or, in case of difference, as shall be authorised by two justices. (Id., s. 71, post, App., 178). But if the company so desire, all such last-mentioned accommodation works must be constructed under the superintendence of their engineer, subject to certain restrictions. (Id., s. 72, post, App., 178). The company cannot be compelled to make further or additional accommodation works after the expiration of a prescribed period. (Id., s. 73, post, App., 179). Until the company make bridges, or other proper communications, between lands intersected by the railway, the persons whose right of way shall be affected may pass and repass with carriages, &c., directly (but not otherwise) across the railway; but if compensation has been received for such communication in lieu thereof, then no right of way may be exercised (y). (Id., s. 74, post, App., 179). If any person (y) As to what amounts to a receipt of compensation for the loss of communication between several portions of an estate, see Manning v. The Eastern Counties Railway Co., 12 M. & W. 237; 3 Railway Cases, 637; ante, 248. A railway act enacted, "that it should be lawful for the owners and occupiers of lands through which the railway shall be made, (except in cases in which the company shall, at their own expense, have made communications from the land on the one side of the railway to the land on the other, according to an agreement with the owner, &c., or according to the provisions of this act), at all times, for the purpose of occupying the same lands, to pass and repass, and to lead horses, cattle, &c., directly over and across such parts of the railway as shall be made in or upon their lands." By another section, it was provided, that the company should, at their own expense, so soon as the railway shall be laid out and formed, make such communications as two or more justices of the peace shall, upon the application of the owners, &c., (in case of any dispute), judge necessary and appoint. Another section prohibited any person from riding, leading, or driving any horse, &c. upon the railway, except only in directly crossing the same as aforesaid, at places to be appointed for that purpose, for the necessary occupation of the respective lands through which the railway shall pass." It was decided, that, until the company had made a communication, a party whose land had been severed omits to fasten any gate set up on either side of the railway for accommodation, he is liable to a penalty. (Id., s. 75, post, App., 179). If the commissioners of a turnpike road, or the surveyor of any highway, apprehend danger to the passengers on such road, in consequence of horses being frightened by the engines on the railway, application may be made to the Board of Trade, who may certify what works are necessary or proper for the purpose of obviating or lessening the danger, (Id., s. 63, post, App., 176); and the company must execute any screen or other work in pursuance of the certificate, or pay a penalty; and the justices who impose the penalty may order it to be applied in executing the work in respect whereof the penalty was incurred. (Id., s. 64, post, App., 176). The company, for the purpose of making the railway, may alter the position of water-pipes, gas-pipes, and other obstructions, under the restrictions and penalties prescribed by the act, (Id., ss. 18, 19, 20, 22, 23, post, App., 163, 164), making good all damage, and giving compensation. (Id., s. 21, post, App., 164). The foregoing are the principal provisions contained in the Railways Clauses Consolidation Act, as to the mode of constructing the railway and the works connected therewith. The authority of the Commissioners of Railways, to sanction deviations in executing certain of the before-mentioned engineering works connected with the railway, has been treated of in a former part of this work (z). It now by the railway had a right to pass from his property on one side of the railway to the other, at any point; and that the words "to be appointed" must be read with the addition of "when such places shall have been (z) Ante, 87. Construction of Interference with water-pipes, gas pipes, &c. Cases. Arrangement of only remains to state in some detail such decided cases as appear to be calculated to illustrate the subject of this section. They are arranged as follows (a) :· Cases relating to the construction of stations. -to the construction of temporary bridges. -to the construction of permanent bridges. -to the diversion of roads. -to the repair of railway works. Other cases not included in the foregoing subjects. Although a railway act prohibits the company from having a station or waiting-place" at a certain place, the company are not prohibited from taking up and setting down passengers at that place. within the meaning of a railway act. V. Cases relating to the Construction of Stations. Eton College v. The Great Western Railway, (1 Railway Cases, 200).] A bill for incorporating a company for the formation of a railway was pending in the House of Lords. In consequence of a petition presented by Eton College against the bill, the following clauses were introduced:-Sect. 99 enacted, that it should not be lawful for the company to alter or divert any part of the line of railway as then What is a "road" laid down, nor to make any other railway, tramroad, or other road or way to the south of the line, within three miles of Eton. Sect. 100 enacted, that it should not be lawful for any company or person to form, make, or lay down any branch railway, or tramroad, or other road or way whatever, passing or approaching within the same limits. Sect. 101 enacted, that no depot, station, yard, waiting, watering, loading, or unloading place should be made within the same distance. Sects. 102 and 103 enacted, that the company should erect and maintain a fence on each side of the railway, within certain parishes, for a distance of four miles; and should maintain a police for preventing all access to the railway by the scholars of Eton. The College continued their opposition until the bill, including the above clauses, passed into an act. The company diverted an existing road within the prescribed distance, and fenced off and appropriated part of the site of such former road as a passage communicating with the railway, by which passengers were invited to pass on foot to and from, and to be (a) See the caution to be observed in applying these cases, ante, 190. |
