This Act may be cited as the Government Railways Amendment Act, 1913, and shall form part of and be read together with the Government Railways Act, 1908 (hereinafter referred to as the principal Act).

Section two of the principal Act is hereby amended—

Subsection two of section six of the principal Act is hereby repealed, and the following subsection is substituted therefor:—

Section ten of the principal Act is hereby amended by repealing subparagraph (xiii) of paragraph (e), and substituting therefor the following subparagraph:—

If any person does, or causes or procures to be done, any of the following things:—

he shall be liable to imprisonment with or without hard labour for any term not exceeding two months, or to a fine not exceeding ten pounds.

Paragraphs (f) and (h) of section twenty-six of the principal Act are hereby repealed.

If any person does, or causes or procures to be done, any of the following things:—

Paragraph (d) of section twenty-seven of the principal Act is hereby repealed.

Any lease of railway land granted prior to the passing of the Government Railways Amendment Act, 1910 (No. 2), may, with the consent of the Minister, be surrendered by the lessee, and in lieu thereof the Minister may grant to the lessee a new lease in accordance with the provisions of section three of the said Act without submitting such new lease to public auction or tender:

Provided that the rental to be reserved under such new lease shall be fixed by the Minister upon the recommendation of the permanent head of the Department, who shall, before making such recommendation, cause a new valuation of the land to be made, and shall, in making such recommendation, take into consideration the value of the land as so determined and the improved terms and conditions of the new lease.

Where a road or street crosses a railway on the level, the Minister shall maintain and metal the road and crossing on the railway and for a distance,. on each side, of thirty-three feet outside the centre-line of any line of rails so crossed; and the local authority having control of the road or street shall maintain and metal the approaches to such crossing, subject to the approval of the Minister.

Where a road or street crosses over or under any railway by means of a bridge, the structure of such bridge, exclusive of the decking or other road surface, shall be maintained by the Minister.

Where a road or street crosses under the railway, such road or street shall be maintained by the local authority having the control thereof.

Where a road or street crosses over the railway, the decking or other road surface of the bridge shall be maintained by the Minister at the cost of the local authority having charge of the road or street.

This section is in substitution for section forty-three of the principal Act, and that section is hereby accordingly repealed.

Where a road or street crosses the railway on the level, the Minister may cause to be erected, in addition to the usual “stop” notice-boards, such signals as he considers necessary for the protection of persons using the crossing.

The Minister shall not be liable in respect of any accident that may occur by reason of the temporary failure of such signals.

Every person in charge of a motor or driving a motor on or along any road or street shall when approaching a railway-crossing slacken speed when within one hundred yards of the crossing to a rate not exceeding ten miles an hour, and shall stop before coming into contact with the railway-line. He shall also keep a vigilant lookout for approaching trains, and shall not attempt to pass over any such crossing unless the line is clear, and shall not pass over such crossing at a greater speed than ten miles an hour.

Where an accident has occurred to any train resulting in injury to any passenger travelling thereby, the Minister may order an inquiry to be held into the circumstances by a Board constituted as hereinafter provided.

The Board shall be appointed by the Minister, and shall consist of a Magistrate, who shall preside, and two assessors (not members of the Railway service), both of whom must have had experience in railway working.

The Board shall have power to summon witnesses and to hear any evidence on oath which it may deem necessary for the purposes of the inquiry.

Any person concerned in an inquiry under this section may appear before the Board either personally or by an agent appointed by him in writing in that behalf. Such agent may be a barrister or solicitor, or a member of the Department, or the secretary of any society of members of the Department recognized by the Minister.

A full report, together with the evidence taken at the inquiry, shall be submitted by the Board to the Minister, together with such opinion and remarks as the Board thinks fit.

Each of the assessors shall sign the report, or state in writing to the Minister his dissent therefrom, giving the reasons therefor.

The Board may fix the costs of the inquiry and direct by whom and in what proportion they shall be payable.

Expenses of witnesses shall be regulated according to the scale for the time being in force under the Magistrates’ Courts Act, 1908, in the case of witnesses who are not members of the Department, and in the case of witnesses who are members reasonable expenses shall be allowed.

Costs awarded shall be recoverable as a debt due to the Crown.

The Minister may-, if in any case he thinks fit, pay the costs of the inquiry.

The inquiry shall be held in some public building or other suitable place, but shall not be held in a place ordinarily used as a Police Court.

The Magistrate may decide in each case whether the proceedings shall be open to the Press.

Section fifty-six of the principal Act is hereby amended by omitting the words “and the officer at the head of each branch thereof shall in respect of any member in that branch.”

Paragraph (a) of section sixty-four of the principal Act is hereby repealed, and the following paragraph substituted therefor:—

Subparagraph (i) of paragraph (a) of section sixty-five of the principal Act is hereby amended by adding the following words: “or that witnesses who were not essential to the case have been nominated by and attended at the request of the appellant.”

Section sixty-eight of the principal Act is hereby amended as follows:—

Section eighty-four of the principal Act is hereby amended by adding to subsection one the following words:—

The Schedule to the Government Railways Amendment Act, 1912, is hereby amended as follows:—

This section shall come into operation on the first day of April, nineteen hundred and fourteen.

For the purposes of the last preceding section the Minister shall, on the first day of April, nineteen hundred and fourteen, cause al members of the First Division then in the service of the Department to be classified according to the classification set forth in the Firs Schedule hereto, and shall fix each such member’s rate of pay am the date on which his first annual increment (if any) begins to be payable:

Provided that—

From such classification there shall be prepared and laid before Parliament each year a list setting out in order of classification the name, status, and pay of each member, probationer, am apprentice, and the number of years he has been in the service of the Department.