§ Directions and determinations by the Minister of Transport under section 54 relating to the publication of advance information of plans by the British Railways Board for railway and shipping closures.
§ The Minister of Transport (hereinafter referred to as "the Minister") in exercise of his powers under section 54 of the Transport Act 1962 (hereinafter referred to as "the Act") hereby directs and determines that the information to be given by the British Railways Board (hereinafter referred to as "the Board") in pursuance of the said section 54 with a view to giving the public advance notice of their plans for—
- (a) the discontinuance of railway passenger or goods services provided by them (hereinafter referred to respectively as "passenger closures" and "goods closures"), and
- (b) the discontinuance of shipping services which are, or are deemed for the purposes of the said section 54 to be, so provided (hereinafter referred to as "shipping closures"),
§ A—Passenger closures
§ 1. The information to be given as to the passenger closures comprised in the Board's plans shall include particulars identifying—
- (i) the stations to be closed to passenger services, and
- (ii) the lines from which all passenger services are to be withdrawn.
§ 2. The information mentioned in the last foregoing paragraph shall be published in the following manner and places—
- (a) the information shall be published and made available on sale to the public, and
- (b) except as respects information published by Her Majesty's Stationery Office and available on sale to the public at the date of these directions and determinations, notice that the information has been so published and is so available shall be published in not less than two national newspapers and, in the case of passenger closures relating to stations or lines in Scotland, also in at least one newspaper circulating particularly in Scotland.
§ B—Goods closures
§ 3. The information to be given as to goods closures comprised in the Board's plans shall be given by means of general notices in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 4 hereof and of local notices in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 5 hereof. References in these paragraphs to "sidings" do not include private sidings.
§ 4. General notices of goods closures shall be given as follows:—
- (a) they shall be published in not less than two national newspapers and, in the case of closures relating to stations, depots and sidings in Scotland, shall also be published in at least one newspaper circulating particularly in Scotland;
- (b) they shall include particulars identifying the stations, depots and sidings which are to be closed for the purposes of railway goods services, and the Regional Railway Board responsible for each;
- (c) they shall give the approximate or estimated dates when the closures are planned to take place, any such date to be not less than one month from the date when the notice is published;
- (d) each general notice shall include all the closures other than closures of which general notice has previously been given which are planned to take place within a period of three months or more starting one month after the date of its publication.
§ 5. Local notices of goods closures shall be given as follows:—
- (a) they shall be displayed at the stations, depots or sidings affected or, in the case of a siding, at a station or depot which in the opinion of the Board is most appropriate for the purpose;
- (b) they shall give the date when the station, depot or siding as the case may be is to be closed, and so that such date is not less than four weeks from the date when the notice is first displayed.
§ C—Shipping closures
§ 6.—(1) The information to be given as to shipping closures comprised in the Board's plans shall include particulars of all shipping services which are to be wholly discontinued in respect of the carriage of passengers, the carriage of road vehicles by a vehicle shipping service or the carriage of goods, and of any train ferry service which is to be wholly discontinued and such particulars shall identify the ports or places between which any such service is to be discontinued and shall state whether the service to be discontinued is a service in respect of the carriage of passengers, or of vehicles by vehicle shipping service or of goods, or is a train ferry service and the approximate date when the discontinuance is planned to take place.
§ (2) "Vehicle shipping service" in this paragraph means any shipping service for the carriage of road vehicles with their drivers and other persons travelling with the vehicles.
§ 7.—(1) The information mentioned in the last foregoing paragraph shall be published in the following manner and places:—
- (a) the information shall be published in not less than two national newspapers and, in the case of shipping closures affecting services to or from any port or place in Scotland or Northern Ireland, shall also be published in at least one newspaper circulating particularly in Scotland or in Northern Ireland, as the case may be, and
- (b) notices shall be displayed at any port or place in the United Kingdom to or from which the service to be discontinued is provided, containing such of the said information as relates to that service, and where a shipping closures involves the discontinuance of a shipping service which is not provided to or from a port or place in the United Kingdom, notices containing such of the said information as relates to that service shall be displayed at such ports or places in the United Kingdom as the Board may consider appropriate.
§ (2) Publication of the said information in accordance with the provisions of both sub-paragraphs (1) (a) and (1) (b) of this paragraph shall in the case of any closure be not less than three months before the approximate date of discontinuance included in the information relating to that closure.
§ D—General
§ 8. The provisions hereof shall have effect subject to any further direction or determina- 444 tions which the Minister may give under the said Section 54.
§ Signed by the authority of the Minister of Transport on the 29th July, 1963.
§ D. R. SERPELL,
§ A Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of Transport.