Bhaumik on The Railways Act, 1989

The Indian Railways Act 189 was enacted at the time when the railways in India were mostly managed by private companies. Initially, the Government of India played primarily the role of coordinating and regulating authority in various matters such as inter-railway movement of traffic, fixation of rates, sharing of revenue earnings, etc. As the role of the Government had changed, the Indian Railways Act 189 came to be repealed and the Railways Act 1989 was introduced. Subsequently the Railways Act 1989 has undergone further changes in 1994, 23, 25 and 28. The tenth edition of this work is now appearing incorporating all those amendments.

Maintenance of railways

Poor maintenance of railways is one of the causes for frequent accidents, so relevant provisions for regular maintenance of railways are exhaustively dealt with. Procedural aspects of inquiry, investigation and liability for railways administration relating to accidents have been discussed at length. Sickness of railways is mainly due to shortfall of fares for carriage of passengers and of goods and has been treated appropriately. Acquisition of land is now the foremost problem of the society and accordingly, a chapter on ?Land Acquisition for Special Railways Project is highlighted.

Proposition to prevent offences

There are many topics relating to railways. Supreme Court of India and different High Courts have laid down propositions of law to prevent commission of offences in travelling by railways, endangering safety of passengers, entering into reserved compartments, entering carriage or other reserved place for female passengers, carrying dangerous or offensive goods on railways, etc. and those are discussed at length. Issues which are very common in the railways like?compensation for death or injury, forum for deciding claim, loss of consignment, compensation for loss of goods, delayed delivery of goods, contributory negligence, owners risk rate, penalty for smoking in train, res ipsa loquitur, cancellation of ticket and refund for it etc. are dealt with elaborately. The book shall be treated as a faithful companion to the bench and the bar.

Key Features:

• Acquisition of land for railways project
• Liability of railways relating to accident
• Compensation for death or injury
• Penalty for smoking in the train
• Compensation for loss of consignment