Power of railway company to execute all necessary works
(1) Subject to this Act, whenever it is necessary so to do, a railway company may, for the purpose of constructing a railway or the accommodation or other works connected therewith—
(a) make or construct in, upon, across, under or over any land or river, such temporary works or structures, including roads, bridges, rails, ways, conduits and drains, as the railway company thinks proper; and
(b) alter temporarily the course of any roads, streets or ways, as the railway company thinks proper.
(2) In exercising the powers conferred by subsection (1), the railway company shall be subject to any direction which may be given by the Director General from time to time.
(3) A railway company shall, before exercising the powers conferred by subsection (1), give notice to the proprietor or occupier of the land of his intention to enter the land.
(4) The notice mentioned in subsection (3) shall state as fully and accurately as possible the nature and extent of the acts intended to be done.
(5) The Director General may, with the approval of the Minister, make regulations for prescribing the form of the notice mentioned in subsection (3) and the manner in which such notice may be served on a proprietor or an occupier of land.
Powers in case of accident
(1) The Director General may, in case of any accident happening or being apprehended to any cutting, embankment or other work under the control of a railway company, authorize that railway company to enter upon any land adjoining its railway for the purpose of carrying out repairs or preventing an accident and to do all such works as are necessary for that purpose.
(2) Notwithstanding subsection (1), a railway company may, in cases of necessity, enter upon any land for the purpose of carrying out repairs or preventing an accident without having previous authorization from the Director General, but in such a case the railway company shall, within twenty four hours after such entry, make a report to the Director General, specifying the nature of the accident or apprehended accident and of the works necessary to be done.
(3) If after considering the report the Director General is of the opinion that there is no danger or apprehended danger to the public, the railway company shall immediately cease work on such lands.
Payment of compensation
(1) In exercising the powers under sections 11 and 12, a railway company shall cause as little damage as possible to the lands and adequate compensation shall be paid for any damage caused by the exercise thereof.
(2) Any person claiming compensation from a railway company may lodge his claim with the Administrator who shall forward such claim to the railway company.
(3) Where there is a dispute as to the amount of compensation, the Administrator shall determine the amount, as far as may be, in accordance with the procedures prescribed by the law relating to the acquisition of land for public purposes in force in the State concerned.
(4) Nothing in this section shall prevent the settling by agreement of the amount of compensation to be paid in respect of lands damaged or injuriously affected by the exercise of the powers conferred by this section.
Accommodation works
(1) Every railway company shall, subject to subsections (3) and (4), construct and maintain for the accommodation of the proprietors and occupiers of lands adjoining any railway—
(a) such and so many convenient crossings, bridges, arches, culverts and passages over, under or by the sides of or leading to or from the railway, as are in the opinion of the Director General necessary for the purpose of making good any interruptions caused to the use of the lands by the construction of a railway;
(b) all necessary arches, tunnels, culverts, drains, watercourses or other passages over or under or by the sides of the railway of such dimensions as will, in the opinion of the Director General, be sufficient at all times to convey water from or to the lands adjoining or lying near or by the railway as freely as before the construction of the railway or as nearly so as may be.
(2) Subject to this Act, the works specified in paragraphs (1)(a) and (b) shall be made during or immediately after the laying out or formation of the railway over the lands traversed by it, and in such manner as to cause as little damage, injury or inconvenience as possible to persons interested in the lands or affected by the works, as the case may be; and if there is damage or injury to the lands the railway company shall pay adequate compensation to the persons interested therein.
(3) A railway company shall not be required—
(a) to make any accommodation works in such a manner as would prevent or obstruct the working or use of a railway; or
(b) to make any accommodation works with respect to which the proprietors and occupiers of the land have agreed to receive and have been paid compensation in consideration of their not requiring the works to be made.
(4) Where a railway company has provided suitable crossing for a road or stream, and the road or stream is afterwards diverted by the act or neglect of the person having control over such road or stream, the railway company shall not be required to provide any other crossing for the road or stream.
Additional works
If—
(a) a proprietor or an occupier of any land adjoining a railway considers that the accommodation works made under section 14 are insufficient for the commodious use of the land; or
(b) any Government department or local authority desires to construct a public road or other work across, over or under a railway,
the proprietor, occupier, Government department or local authority may, at his or their own expense, cause to be made such further accommodation works as the proprietor, occupier, Government department or local authority considers necessary and if agreed to by the railway company or, in the case of a difference of opinion between the proprietor, occupier, Government department or local authority and the railway company, such further accommodation works as authorized by the Director General.
Fences, screens, gates and bars
(1) The Director General may, within a time to be specified in the requisition or within such further time as he may prescribe, require a railway company—
(a) to provide or renew, as the case may be, fences or boundary marks for its railway and any road constructed in connection therewith; or
(b) to provide or renew, as the case may be, any works in the nature of a screen near to or adjoining the side of any public road constructed before the making of the railway for the purpose of preventing danger to the public using the road.
(2) Any railway company which fails to comply with any requisition made under this section shall be guilty of an offence.
Graded crossings
Where a railway company has constructed a railway track across an existing public road on the level, the Director General may, if it appears to him necessary for public safety and convenience, at any time, require the railway company, within such time as he thinks fit, to carry the road either under or over the railway track by means of a bridge or arch with convenient ascents and descents and other convenient approaches instead of crossing the road on the level, or to execute such other works as in the circumstances of the case appear to the Director General to be best adapted for removing or diminishing the danger arising from the level crossing and for meeting the convenience of the public.
Road crossings
(1) Wherever a railway company has constructed a railway track across an existing public road on the level (such crossing not being an “occupation crossing” within the meaning of section 20), the company shall cause good and efficient gates or barriers to be erected and maintained at the point where the railway track crosses the road, and shall employ proper persons to open and shut such gates or barriers and such gates or barriers shall be kept closed against the public road when rolling-stock is crossing the road.
(2) The Director General may, at any time, declare that subsection
(1) shall not apply to such crossings as are specified in the declaration, and thereupon the railway company shall be relieved of the obligations imposed by subsection (1) in respect of the said crossings.
(3) Where any such declaration has been made under subsection
(2), the railway company shall erect warning boards alongside the public road and whistle-signals alongside the railway track at suitable distances from such level crossing, and the driver of every engine or other motive vehicle shall sound the whistle of his engine or other motive vehicle in accordance with such signals before the engine or other motive vehicle crosses the public road.
(4) The railway company shall not be liable for any damage caused to any person or property by the passage of any engine, other motive vehicle or any other rolling-stock attached to it across the public road at any crossing specified in a declaration under
subsection (2) unless it is proved that the driver of the engine, motive vehicle or rolling-stock did not sound the whistle of his engine, motive vehicle or rolling-stock in accordance with the signals.
(5) Where a Government department, local authority or any other person constructs a public road across an existing railway track, the Government department, local authority or any other person charged with the responsibility for the maintenance of such road shall be liable to pay to the railway company the cost of the construction of any gate or barrier erected by the company at the point where the road crosses the railway track and an annual rent for the maintenance thereof.
Private crossings
(1) A railway company may, at its discretion, on a request made by any person, construct and open private crossings at any place on a railway track, and may impose conditions regarding the use thereof.
(2) The cost of the construction of a private crossing and an annual rent for the maintenance of it shall be paid by the person for whom such crossing has been constructed.
(3) The railway company may, in the event of failure by the person for whom such crossing has been constructed to comply with the conditions imposed, or if it is expedient so to do in the interests of the railway, close any private crossing.
Occupation crossings
(1) The Director General may, at any time, by notification in the Gazette declare any road or path which a railway track crosses to be an “occupation crossing”.
(2) When any such declaration has been made, the railway company shall provide, at such occupation crossing, gates or barriers across the road or path, which shall not be capable of closing across the railway track, and which shall be kept locked when not in use. The keys of such gates or barriers shall be kept by a railway official.
(3) Notwithstanding subsection (2), duplicates of the keys of the gates or barriers of any occupation crossing may be entrusted by the railway company to any person having frequent occasion to use such occupation crossing and such keys shall be retained and used by that person for such period and subject to such conditions as the railway company may determine.
(4) The railway company may, from time to time, define the hours suitable for the opening of the gates and barriers of any occupation crossing, and the gates or barriers shall only be opened by the railway official with whom the keys of such gates or barriers are kept at the times so defined by the railway company.
(5) Any person, not being a person to whom the keys of the gates or barriers are entrusted under subsection (3), who intends to use an occupation crossing outside the hours defined under subsection (4), shall give to the railway official with whom the keys of the gates and barriers are kept, notice of his intention to do so.
Removal of trees dangerous to or obstructing the working of a railway
(1) Where in the opinion of the Director General there is at any time danger or suspected danger that any tree (which term in this section includes undergrowth) standing on land other than railway land may fall on to a railway, or on the route of any telegraph, telephone, signal, electric light or electric power wire the working of which is wholly or partially controlled by a railway company or may obstruct, interfere with, or cause damage to the construction or proper working of a railway or of any such telegraph, telephone, signal, electric light or electric power wire or to any post, other structure or fitting supporting the same or appurtenant thereto, a railway company may cause the tree to be cut down or dealt with in such other manner as will, in the opinion of the Director General, avert the danger or remove the obstruction, as the case may be.
(2) Where a tree obstructs or interferes with the view of any fixed signal, a railway company may cause the tree to be cut down or dealt with in such other manner as will remove the obstruction or interference, as the case may be.
(3) When the tree referred to in subsections (1) and (2) was in existence before the railway was constructed, or the telegraph, telephone, signal, electric light or electric power wire was laid, or the post, structure or fitting was erected or installed, or the signal was fixed, adequate compensation shall be paid by the railway company to the proprietor or occupier of the land the tree is on.
Notice of felling or clearing of trees or jungle adjacent to railway
(1) The proprietor or occupier of any land shall, before felling or clearing any tree or jungle adjacent to a railway, give seven days’ previous notice in writing to the railway company of his intention to do so and shall take all reasonable precautions for the protection of the railway or any telegraph or telephone erected thereon.
(2) Where any damage is caused to the railway or any telegraph or telephone erected thereon, the railway company may, in default of agreement, recover compensation from the proprietor or occupier by action at law.
Source: Laws of Malaysia, Attorney General's Chambers of Malaysia (lom.agc.gov.my). Not a copy of the Gazette printed by the Government Printer (Interpretation Acts 1948 and 1967, s 61).
