HL Deb 22 February 1999 vol 597 cc103-4WA
Lord Stanley of Alderley

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether the existing liability on Railtrack to maintain fencing bordering railway lines in good condition obtains when the line is not in use; and whether, if Railtrack should sell the line, the same liability is passed on to the new owner. [HL1059]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (Lord Whitty)

The Railway Safety (Miscellaneous Provisions) Regulations 1997 place a duty on operators of railways and other transport systems to take measures to prevent unauthorised access to the railway. "Railways and other transport systems" are defined in the Transport and Works Act 1992. This effectively limits the scope of the 1997 regulations to operating railways.

If a railway ceases to be operational, the owner of the land, whether it be the original railway company or a purchaser, would have the same duty to protect people from danger that may arise from anything on the land— for example an unprotected drop—as any other landowner.