thereof has been reduced or enhanced, after taking into account in either case

(a) any capital expenditure by the owners of the undertaking. on any words brought into use in the interval; and (b) the natural growth of traffic on the undertaking, then, if and so far as such reduction or enhancement is due to the exercise by the Minister during that period upon the undertaking in question of the powers under section three of this Act (including such powers as have been hitherto exercised by the Board of Trade as mentioned in paragraph (1) (a) of that section) the owners of the undertaking shall, unless such reduction or enhancement is otherwise provided for by the compensation mentioned in paragraph (1) (a) of that section, be entitled to be recouped, or liable to pay, the amount by which that value has been so reduced or enhanced, and if any question arises as to such amount or the liability to pay the same, or otherwise with respect to the financial relations between the Minister and any person affected by the exercise by the Minister of any of his powers under the said section, the question shall be determined by the Railway and Canal Commission having regard to all the circumstances of the case:

Provided that

(i) no claim in respect of any loss alleged to be due to any
direction issued by the Minister shall be entertained if
the direction was issued with the concurrence of the owners
of the undertaking; and

(ii) if, whilst an undertaking of which or of any part or plant
of which possession has been taken remains in the pos-
session of the Government, the State is authorised by
Parliament to acquire the undertaking, nothing in this
subsection restricting claims for enhancement attributable
to the exercise by the Minister of such powers as aforesaid
to cases where the value of the undertaking has been
enhanced as compared with the value thereof at the com-
mencement of the period of possession shall be held to
affect, one way or the other, any question as to the prin-
ciple on which the price to be paid on such acquisition is
to be based.

(2) Without prejudice to any other form of payment or satisfaction, the Treasury, on the recommendation of the Minister, may, as or as part of the consideration for exercising any powers of control under the said section, guarantee the payment of any dividends or interest on any stock or other securities issued by the owners of an undertaking up to such amount as may be agreed, or the payment of any working expenses of the undertaking, and any sums required to fulfil any such guarantee shall be paid out of moneys provided by Parliament.

1919.

9 & 10 Geo. 5.

c. 50.

1919.

c. 50.

(3) Wherever the Minister has expended any sum in the capital 9 & 10 Geo. 5. improvement of any undertaking, the owners of the undertaking shall be liable to pay to the Minister the unexhausted value of such expenditure at the end of the beforementioned period, if and so far as such expenditure is not covered by the payments to be made by the owners under the preceding provisions of this section, and that value shall, in default of agreement, be determined by the Railway and Canal Commission.

(4) The owners of the undertaking may satisfy any payment due from them under this section by creating a charge in favour of the Treasury upon the undertaking to such amount and in such form and with such priority as may be agreed, or, in case of difference, may be settled by the Railway and Canal Commission, who shall have due regard to the rights and interests of all parties concerned, but the charge so created shall in no case take priority to any capital raised by loan or debenture stock issued by the owners of the undertaking.

(5) Any claim by a railway company against the Government for compensation in respect of the exercise by the Board of Trade of any powers over or in respect of the undertaking in pursuance of section sixteen of the Regulation of the Forces Act, 1871, or with the consent of the railway company, or otherwise, may be determined by the Railway and Canal Commission in like manner as if it were a claim arising under this section, and the Minister was the person liable to satisfy the claim.

(6) The Minister shall indemnify, and keep indemnified, the owners of any undertaking of which or of any part of which, or of any plant of which possession has been retained or taken, and the owners of any harbour, dock or pier undertaking, against all actions, claims, and demands made in respect of loss or injury alleged to be caused by the carrying out of any directions given by the Minister under section three of this Act, or, as the case may be, any requirements contained in any Order made by the Minister under section four of this Act:

Provided that, where the loss or injury is due to the breach of any contractual obligation, the Minister shall not be liable under this provision unless before carrying out the directions the owners of the undertaking have given written notice to the Minister of the existence of the obligation.

Power to Establish Transport Services.

9.-(1) It shall be lawful for the Minister to establish, and either by himself or through any other person to work, transport services by land or water, and to acquire either by agreement or compulsorily such lands or easements,, to construct such works, and to do all such other things, as may be necessary for the purpose:

Provided that

1919.

c. 50.

(i) no new transport service shall be established by the Minister 9 & 10 Geo. 5.
until an estimate of the capital expenditure required to
complete it, accompanied by details of the scheme for the
establishment of the service, has been approved by the
Treasury;

(ii) if in the case of any such service such estimate as aforesaid
exceeds half a million pounds, or if the establishment of
any such service involves the acquisition of land or ease-
ments compulsorily, or the breaking up of any roads, the
Minister shall not exercise his powers of establishing the
service unless authorised to do so by Order in Council a
draft whereof has been approved by a resolution passed
by both Houses of Parliament, and the Order may in-
corporate the provisions of the Lands Clauses Acts, sub-
ject to such modifications as may be specified in the Order,
being modifications of those Acts made or authorised to
be made by the Development and Road Improvements
Funds Act, 1909, or any other enactment, and the Order
may also incorporate or apply any enactments relating to
the construction and maintenance of the works in question;
iii) where it appears to the Minister that the establishment of
any such service could properly be undertaken by the
owners of any existing undertaking, the Minister shall
not himself establish the service without first giving to
such owners an opportunity of establishing the service,
. and, where such an opportunity is given to the owners of
an undertaking of which possession has been retained or
taken under section three of this Act, and those owners
prefer that the establishment of the service should be
undertaken by themselves rather than by the Minister, they
may require the Minister to give them directions under
that section to that effect, but shall not be deemed to have
thereby concurred in those directions; and

(iv) the Minister shall not, after two years from the passing of this Act unless Parliament otherwise determines, commence the construction of any new works, or provide equipment for any transport service not established before that date. (2) The Minister or other person working a service established under this section may charge such rates, fares, tolls, and charges in connexion therewith as may be prescribed by the Minister, subject to reference to the Advisory Committee on Rates hereinafter established, and the expenses of working such services shall be paid out of the revenues derived therefrom, and the Minister shall keep or cause to be kept such accounts of the receipts from and expenditure on the services and in such form, and those accounts shall be audited in such manner as the Treasury may prescribe.

1919.

9 & 10 Geo. 5 c. 50

Extraordinary Traffic.

10. Any transport service on roads established by the Ministry shall be subject to the provisions relating to extraordinary traffic 41 & 42 Vict. contained in the Highways and Locomotives (Amendment) Act, 1878, 41 & 42 Vict. or in Scotland the Roads and Bridges (Scotland) Act, 1878, or in c. 57. Ireland the Public Roads (Ireland) Act, 1911 (as amended by any 1 & 2 Geo. 5. subsequent enactment).

c. 77.

c. 45.

6 & 7 Geo. 5.

C. 12.

Appeal as to Bridges.

II. An appeal shall lie to the Minister in respect of any restriction upon any traffic passing over or seeking to cross any bridge or culvert, and the Minister shall have power, notwithstanding any provision in any other statute, to make such order as he may think fit concerning the strengthening, standard of maintenance, and maintenance of any bridge or culvert, the traffic using it or seeking to use it, and apportionment of any expenditure involved, but no order made by the Minister under this section shall enlarge the pecuniary liability of any railway or canal company or impose any new liability upon any such company.

Provisions as to New Routes for Omnibuses.

12. Section twenty of the Local Government (Emergency Provisions) Act, 1916 (which relates to the establishment of new routes for omnibuses), shall continue in force until the expiration of two years after the passing of this Act, and shall have effect as if—

(a) the following provision was substituted for subsection (2) of the section (that is to say):—

(2) Except as provided in subsection (4), this section shall not be deemed to detract from any existing powers of highway authorities in regard to omnibuses.

(b) the following subsection was added to the section (that is to say):

(4) Where, upon application for a licence to ply for hire with an omnibus, the licensing authority either refuses to grant a licence or grants a licence subject to conditions, in either case the applicant shall have a right of appeal to the Minister of Transport from the decision of the licensing authority, and the Minister shall have power to make such order thereon as he may think fit, and such order shall be binding upon the licensing authority.

Powers as to Railway Wagons.

13. (1) It shall be lawful for the Minister to purchase privatelyowned railway wagons required for use on any railway on such terms and conditions as may be authorised by or under an Order in Council,

1919.

c. 50.

a draft whereof has been approved by a Resolution passed by both Houses of Parliament, and to work or lease any such wagons when 9 & 10 Geo. 5. so purchased, or to apportion them among the several railway undertakings in such manner, on such terms, and subject to such conditions as may be provided by or under the Order :

Provided that the Minister shall not be entitled to purchase in England and Wales, or Scotland, or Ireland, respectively, wagons used for the conveyance of any particular class of traffic unless he purchases all privately-owned wagons so used which belong to or are used by persons carrying on business therein, and which comply with the regulations with respect to such wagons in force at the date of such purchase.

(2) Where, in the case of any wagon which has been in use on or before the fifteenth day of May, nineteen hundred and nineteen, the wagon has since that date been the subject of a purchase agreement, the price paid on such purchase shall not be evidence of the value of the wagon in determining the price to be paid by the Minister.

(3) Where the Minister has, in pursuance of his powers under this section, purchased any wagon, any contract then in force for the repair of the wagon shall upon the purchase be determined, unless otherwise agreed with the Minister.

(4) Where the Minister exercises his powers of purchasing wagons under this section, or of prohibiting or restricting the use of privatelyowned wagons, or of limiting the number of wagons to be so used, the following provisions shall have effect:

c. 31.

(a) The reasonable facilities which every railway company is
required to afford under section two of the Railway and 17 & 18 Vict.
Canal Traffic Act, 1854, as amended or explained by any
other Act, shall, where the railway wagons of traders of
any class have been purchased, include the provision of
suitable railway wagons for the use of traders of that
class, and it shall be the duty of the Minister so to exercise
his powers of working or disposing of the wagons pur-
chased by him as to enable the railway companies to fulfil
their obligations under this provision as fully as may be
practicable:

(b) Where the provision of wagons is not included in the
authorised maximum rates of conveyance, a railway
company may charge for the use of such wagons such
sums as may be directed by the Minister under section
three of this Act, and, if and so far as no such directions
are in force, any sums not exceeding those prescribed for
the use of such wagons by any Railway Rates and Charges
Order applicable thereto :