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Part 1 — Interpretation and Administration
1 In this Act:
"bylaw", when referring to an act of a company, includes a resolution;
"charge", when used as a verb with respect to tolls, includes power to a company to quote, demand, levy, take and receive and sue for and recover, in any court of competent jurisdiction;
"code" means the rules for railway system equipment, construction, maintenance, operation, health and safety made under this Act;
"company" means a company within the meaning of the Business Corporations Act that is authorized by this Act or a special Act to construct, own or operate a railway;
"court" means the Supreme Court;
"goods" includes personal property of every description which may be conveyed on the railway or on steam vessels or other vessels connected with the railway;
"highway" includes any public road, street, lane or other public way of communication;
"justice" means a justice of the peace acting for the district, county, polling division, city or place where the matter requiring the cognizance of a justice arises, and who is not interested in the matter, and if the matter arises in respect of land, being the property of one and the same person, located not wholly in any one district, county, polling division, city or place, it means a justice acting for the district, county, polling division, city or place where any part of the land is located, and who is not interested in the matter;
"land" includes the ground or soil and everything annexed to it, or that is in or under the ground or soil, except mines and minerals, precious or base, and extends to and includes mines and minerals to the extent and so far as is necessary for the support of the surface, and also extends to and includes foreshore and land covered with water;
"land title office", where any matter in relation to any land is by this Act required to be done in any land title office, means the land title office for the recording of instruments and registration of titles affecting the land;
"municipality" means a municipality within the meaning of the Community Charter;
"owner" means the person who is the registered owner in fee, and, subject to payment to the government of any unpaid purchase money, includes a purchaser of Crown land and a pre-emptor of Crown land;
"railway" means any railway which the company is authorized to construct and operate, and includes all branches, sidings, stations, depots, wharves, rolling stock, equipment, works, property and works connected with the railway and all railway bridges, tunnels or other structures connected with the railway and undertaking of the company;
means a shareholder within the meaning of the Business Corporations Act;
"sheriff" includes deputy sheriff or other legal competent deputy, and if any matter in relation to land is required to be done by a sheriff, it means the sheriff for the district, county or place where the land is located, and if the land in question, being the property of one and the same person, is located not wholly in one district, county or place, it means the sheriff of the district, county or place where any part of the land is located;
"special Act" means any Act authorizing the construction and operation of a railway;
"telegraph or telephone" includes wireless, radio telegraph and telephone;
"toll" or "rate" means any toll, rate, charge or allowance charged or made either by a company, or on or in respect of a railway owned or operated by the company, or by any person on behalf or under authority or consent of the company, in connection with the carriage and transportation of passengers, or the carriage, shipment, transportation, care, handling or delivery of goods, or for any service incidental to the business of a carrier, and includes any toll, rate, charge allowance charged or made
(a) in connection with the rolling stock or the use of it, or any instrumentality or facility of carriage, shipment or transportation, irrespective of ownership or of any contract, expressed or implied, with respect to the use of them,
(b) for furnishing passengers with beds or berths on sleeping cars, or for the collection, receipt, loading, unloading, stopping over, elevation, ventilation, refrigerating, icing, heating, switching, ferrying, cartage, storage, care, handling or delivery of, or in respect of, goods transported or in transit, or to be transported, and
(c) for the warehousing of goods, wharfage or demurrage, or the like,
or charged or made in connection with any one or more of the above mentioned objects separately or conjointly;
"traffic" means the traffic of passengers, goods or rolling stock;
"undertaking" means the railway and works of whatever description which a company is authorized to construct, maintain and operate, and all the land, properties, assets, credits and effects of the company which the company is authorized to acquire, own, hold and possess;
"working expenditure" includes all of the following:
(a) all expenses of maintenance of the railway and of the undertaking of a company;
(b) all the tolls, rents or annual sums paid in respect of the rolling stock let to a company, or in respect of property leased to or held by the company, apart from the rent of any leased line;
(c) all rent charges or interest on the purchase money of land belonging to a company, purchased but not paid for, or not fully paid for;
(d) all expenses of or incidental to the working of the railway and the traffic on it, including all necessaries, repairs and supplies to rolling stock while on the lines of another company;
(e) all rates, taxes, insurance and compensation for accidents or losses;
(f) all salaries and wages of persons employed in and about the working of the railway and traffic;
(g) all office and management expenses, including directors' fees and agency, legal and other similar expenses;
(h) all costs and expenses of and incidental to the compliance by a company with any order of the minister under this Act;
(i) generally any charges not otherwise specified as, in all cases of English railway companies, are usually carried to the debit of revenue as distinguished from capital account.
2 (1) This Act applies to every company incorporated before March 1, 1911 under a special Act, whether or not the company had or had not at that date constructed its railway, except insofar as the provisions of this Act are by express provisions in the special Act prevented from applying to the company, and express mention in this behalf in any special Act of any section in any Act repealed by S.B.C. 1911, c. 44, is, for the purposes of this section, deemed to be an express mention of any corresponding section in this Act.
(2) A railway company incorporated before March 1, 1911 by a special Act has, in addition to the powers conferred by the special Act, all the powers conferred on a company by this Act.
3 (1) For the purposes of this section:
"company" means a person, firm or corporation that owns, constructs or operates, or intends to own, construct or operate, a railway or tramway in British Columbia and to which, except for this section, this Act would not apply, and includes a corporation empowered to act as a carrier of passengers and freight;
"railway" means a railway or tramway subject to the legislative authority of the Legislature, and includes any undertaking of a company subject to that authority which is by any certificate of the minister designated as a railway.
(2) The minister may by certificate declare that the provisions of this Act as may be designated in the certificate apply to any company.
(3) On the taking effect of and to the extent set out in the certificate, this Act applies to the company named in the certificate, and to its railway.
(6) Subject to the Railway Safety Act, a company must not operate a railway in British Columbia except with the consent in writing of the minister and subject to conditions the minister may impose.
4 This Act must be administered by the minister, subject to the control and direction of the Lieutenant Governor in Council.
5 A certificate signed by the minister under section 32, 205 or 225
(a) must be sent to the Lieutenant Governor in Council for approval,
(b) does not come into force until approved by order in council, and
(c) must be published promptly in the Gazette by the company to which it is issued.
(a) prepare and submit to the minister, in duplicate, a map showing
(i) the general location of the proposed line of the railway,
(ii) the termini and the principal towns and places, giving their names, through which the railway is to pass,
(iii) the railways, navigable streams and tidewaters, if any, to be crossed by the railway and those within a radius of 30 miles of the proposed railway, and
(iv) generally the physical features of the country through which the railway is to be constructed, and
(b) give further or other information the minister may require.
(2) The map must be prepared on a scale of not less than 6 miles to the inch, or other appropriate scale as the minister may determine, and must be accompanied by an application, in duplicate, requesting the minister's approval of the general location as shown on the map.
(3) Before approving the map and location, the minister may make changes and alterations in it the minister considers expedient, and on being satisfied with it must signify the minister's approval on the map and the duplicate.
(4) In approving the map and location, the minister may approve the whole or any portion, and if the minister approves only a portion of it must signify the approval on the map and the duplicate accordingly.
(5) When the map is approved and the application is filed in the ministry, the minister must signify the minister's approval of the projected line of railway by certificate.
(6) This section applies to the main line and to every branch line and extension of the railway of a company.
15 (1) On compliance with section 14, a company must make a plan, profile and book of reference of the railway.
(2) The plan must show the following:
(a) the right of way, with lengths of sections in miles;
(b) the names of terminal points;
(d) the property lines and owners' names;
(e) the area length and width of land proposed to be taken, in figures, stating every change of width;
(g) all open drains, watercourses, highways and railways proposed to be crossed or affected.
(3) The profile must show the grades, curves, highway and railway crossings, open drains and watercourses.
(4) The book of reference must describe the portion of land proposed to be taken in each lot to be traversed, giving numbers of the lots and the area, length and width of the portion of each lot proposed to be taken, and names of owners and occupiers so far as they can be ascertained.
(5) The minister may require any additional information for the proper understanding of the plan and profile.
(6) The plan, profile and book of reference may be of a section or sections of the railway.
16 (1) The plan, profile and book of reference must be submitted to the minister, who, if satisfied with them, may approve them.
(2) The minister by the approval is deemed to have approved merely the location of the railway and the grades and curves of it, as shown in the plan, profile and book of reference, but not to have relieved the company from otherwise complying with this Act.
(3) Before approving any plan, profile or book of reference of a section of a railway, the minister may require a company to submit the plan, profile and book of reference of the whole or of any portion of the remainder of the railway, or further or other information the minister considers expedient.
17 (1) The plan, profile and book of reference must be deposited in the ministry, and each plan must be numbered consecutively in order of deposit.
(2) A company must also deposit copies of them or of parts of them that relate to each district or county through which the railway is to pass, certified, in the proper land title office for each district or county respectively.
18 The railway may be made, carried or placed across or on the land of any person on the located line, although
(a) through error or any other cause the name of the person has not been entered in the book of reference, or
(b) some other person is erroneously mentioned as the owner of or entitled to convey or as interested in the land.
19 (1) If any omission, misstatement or error is made in any plan, profile or book of reference so registered, the company may apply to the minister for a certificate to correct it.
(2) The minister may, in the minister's discretion, require notice to be given to interested parties and, if it appears to the minister that the omission, misstatement or error arose from mistake, may grant a certificate setting out the nature of the omission, misstatement or error and the correction allowed.
(3) On the deposit of the certificate in the ministry and of copies of it, certified by the secretary of the company, in the land title offices for the districts respectively in which the land is located, the plan, profile or book of reference must be taken to be corrected in accordance with the certificate, and the company may then, subject to this Act, construct the railway in accordance with the correction.
20 (1) A registrar of titles must
(a) receive and preserve in the registrar's office all plans, profiles, books of reference, certified copies of them and other documents required by this Act to be deposited in the office, and
(b) endorse on them the day, hour and minute when they were deposited.
(2) All persons may resort to the plans, profiles, books of reference, copies and documents deposited, and may make extracts from them and copies of them as occasion requires, paying the registrar of titles the fees payable under the Land Title Act.
(3) At the request of any person, a registrar of titles must certify copies of any plan, profile, book of reference or document deposited in the registrar's office, or of portions of them as may be required, on being paid the fees payable under the Land Title Act.
(4) The certificate of the registrar of titles must
(a) set out that the plan, profile or document, a copy of which or of any portion of which is certified by the registrar, is deposited in the registrar's office,
(b) state the time when it was deposited, and
(c) state that the registrar has carefully compared the copy certified with the document on file, and that it is a true copy of the original.
21 (1) A plan and profile of the completed railway or of any part of it which is completed and in operation, and of the land taken or obtained for the use of it, must, within 6 months after completion of the undertaking or within 6 months after beginning to operate the completed part, as the case may be, or within an extended or renewed period as the minister at any time directs, be made and deposited in the ministry.
(2) Plans and profiles of the parts of the railway so completed or in operation located in different districts and counties, prepared on the scale, in the manner and form, and signed or authenticated in the manner the minister may, by regulation of general application or by order dealing with a particular case, approve or require, must be deposited in the land title offices for the districts and counties in which the parts are located.
22 (1) All plans and profiles required by law to be deposited by a company in the ministry must be drawn to the scale, with the detail, on the materials and must be of the character as the minister may, by regulation of general application or by order dealing with a particular case, require.
(2) All the plans and profiles must be certified and signed by the president, vice president or general manager of the company, and also by the engineer of the company.
(3) Any book of reference required to be deposited must be prepared to the satisfaction of the minister.
(4) Unless and until the plan, profile and book of reference is made satisfactory to the minister, the minister may refuse to approve it or to allow it to be deposited in the ministry.
23 In addition to the plans, profiles and books of reference, a company must, with all reasonable expedition, prepare and deposit in the ministry any other or further plans, profiles or books of reference of any portion of the railway, or of any siding, station or works of it, that the minister may order or require.
24 (1) If any deviation, change or alteration is required by a company to be made in the railway or any portion of it as already constructed, or as merely located and approved, a plan, profile and book of reference of the portion of the railway proposed to be changed, showing the deviation, change or alteration proposed to be made, must, in similar manner as provided with respect to the original plan, profile and book of reference, be submitted for the approval of the minister, and may be approved by the minister.
(2) The plan, profile and book of reference of the portion of the railway proposed to be changed must, when approved, be deposited and dealt with as provided with respect to the original plan, profile and book of reference.
(3) The company may then make the deviation, change or alteration, and all the provisions of this Act apply to the portion of the line of railway changed or proposed to be changed in the same manner as they apply to the original line.
(4) The minister may, by regulation of general application or by order dealing with a particular case, exempt a company from submitting the plan, profile and book of reference, as provided in this section, if the deviation, change or alteration is made or to be made for the purpose of lessening a curve, reducing a gradient or otherwise benefiting the railway, or for any other purpose of public advantage, as may seem to the minister expedient, if the deviation, change or alteration does not require the acquisition or leasing of additional property.
25 (1) A company must not begin the construction of the railway or any section or portion of it until
(a) the plan, profile and book of reference has been submitted to and approved by the minister as provided,
(b) the plan, profile and book of reference approved has been deposited in the ministry, and
(c) certified copies of the plan, profile and book of reference have been deposited in the land title offices in accordance with this Act.
(2) A company must not make any change, alteration or deviation in the railway or any portion of it until section 24 has been fully complied with.
26 Unless it has the approval of the minister, a company must not locate the line of its proposed railway, or construct the line or any portion of it, so as to obstruct or interfere with, or injuriously affect the working of or the access or adit to, any mine then open, or for the opening of which preparations are at the time of the location being lawfully and openly made.
27 (1) A company is not, unless they have been expressly purchased, entitled to any mines, ores, metals, coal, slate, mineral oils or other minerals in or under any land purchased by it, or taken by it under any compulsory powers given it by this Act.
(2) Subsection (1) does not except from a company's entitlement those parts of the mines, ores, metals, coal, slate, mineral oils or other minerals that are necessary to be dug, carried away or used in the construction of the works.
(3) Unless acquired under subsection (2), expressly purchased or expressly named and conveyed, all mines and minerals are deemed to be excepted from the conveyance of the land.
30 Subject only to the obtaining of permission or approval from the minister wherever required by this Act, a company may do one or more of the following:
(a) enter into and on Crown land without previous licence to do so, or into and on the land of any person, lying in the intended route or line of the railway, and make surveys, examinations or other necessary arrangements on the land for fixing the site of the railway, and set out and ascertain the parts of the land necessary and proper for the railway;
(b) and (c) [Repealed 2004-51-39.]
(d) make, carry or place the railway across or on the land of the government or of any person on the located line of the railway;
(e) cross any railway or join the railway with any other railway at any point on its route, and on the land of the other railway, with the necessary conveniences for the purposes of the connection;
(f) to (i) [Repealed 2004-51-39.]
(j) fell or remove any trees which stand within 100 feet from either side of the right of way of the railway, or which are liable to fall across any railway track;
(k) make or construct in, on, across, under or over any railway, tramway, river, stream, watercourse, canal or highway which the railway of the company intersects or touches, temporary or permanent inclined planes, tunnels, embankments, aqueducts, bridges, roads, ways, passages, conduits, drains, piers, arches, cuttings and fences;
(l) divert or alter, temporarily or permanently, the course of a river, stream, watercourse or highway, or raise or sink its level, in order the more conveniently to carry the same over, under or by the side of the railway;
(m) make drains or conduits into, through or under any land adjoining the railway for the purpose of conveying water to or from the railway;
(n) divert or alter the position of any water pipe, gas pipe, sewer or drain, or any telegraph, telephone or electric lines, wires or poles.
Part 6 — Acquisition of Crown Land
32 (1) A railway company must not take possession of, use or occupy any land belonging to the government, to any further or other extent than the making of location surveys, without the consent of the minister as evidenced by a certificate in duplicate.
(2) With the consent of the minister as evidenced by a certificate in duplicate a company may take and appropriate for the use of its undertaking so much of the unoccupied and unreserved land of the government lying on the route of the railway, or within the scope of the undertaking, as have not been granted or sold, and as may be wanted to be acquired for the undertaking, and also so much of the public beach or foreshore or of the land covered with the waters of any lake, river, stream or canal, or of their respective beds, as is necessary or wanted to be acquired for making and completing and maintaining the undertaking of the company.
33 (1) After obtaining a certificate of consent under section 32, a company must promptly apply to the appropriate minister to set the price and compensation to be paid by the company to the government for the taking of the respective land and properties described in the certificate of consent.
(2) The minister referred to in subsection (1), in that minister's absolute discretion may set the price and compensation, and the price and compensation set must be paid by the company to that minister as a condition precedent to the grant to and occupation by the company of the land and properties.
(3) On payment of the price and compensation the land and properties must be granted to the company, its successors and assigns, by grant in the form approved by the minister referred to in subsection (1).
(4) A company may appeal to the court in respect of the amount set to be paid for compensation.
(5) The Expropriation Act applies to the determination of the amount of compensation.
Part 7 — Acquisition of Land by Expropriation and Purchase
34 (1) For a right of way, the land that may be taken without the consent of the owner must not exceed 100 feet in breadth, except in places where the rail level is or is proposed to be more than 5 feet above or below the surface of the adjacent land, when additional width may be taken sufficient to accommodate the slope and side ditches.
(2) For stations, depots and yards, with the freight sheds, warehouses, wharves, elevators and other structures for the accommodation of traffic incidental to them, the land that may be taken without the consent of the owner must not exceed one mile in length by 500 feet in breadth, including the width of the right of way.
35 (1) If, at any point on the railway, a company requires more ample space than it possesses or may take under section 34
(a) for the convenient accommodation of the public,
(b) for the traffic on its railway,
(c) for protection against snow drifts,
(d) for the diversion of a highway,
(e) for the substitution of one highway for another,
(f) for the construction or taking of any works or measures ordered by the minister under this Act, or
(g) to secure the efficient construction, maintenance or operation of the railway,
it may apply to the minister for authority to take the space for those purposes, without the consent of the owner.
(a) give 10 days' notice of the application to the owner of the land, and
(b) furnish to the minister, with the application, copies of the notices, with affidavits of their service.
(3) A company must also furnish to the minister, in duplicate, with the application
(a) a plan, profile and book of reference of the portion of the railway affected, showing the additional land required, and certified as provided in this Act with respect to plans and profiles required to be deposited by the company with the minister, and
(b) an application, in writing, for authority to take the land, signed and sworn to by the president, vice president, general manager or engineer of the company referring to the plan, profile and book of reference, specifying definitely and in detail the purposes for which each portion of the land is required, and the necessity for the same, and showing that no other land suitable for the purposes can be acquired at the place on reasonable terms and with less injury to private rights.
(4) After the time stated in the notices, and the hearing of interested parties who appear, the minister may, in the minister's discretion, and on the terms and conditions the minister considers expedient, authorize by certificate the taking for the stated purposes of all or any portion of the land applied for.
(5) All provisions of this Act applicable to the taking of land without the consent of the owner for the right of way or main line of the railway apply to the land authorized under this section to be taken.
36 (1) A company, either for the purpose of constructing or repairing its railway, or for the purpose of carrying out the requirements of the minister, or in the exercise of the powers conferred on it by the minister, may
(a) enter on any land which is not more than 600 feet distant from the centre of the located line of the railway, and
(b) occupy the land as long as is necessary for those purposes.
(2) All the provisions of law at any time applicable to the taking of land by the company, and its valuation and the compensation for it, apply to the case of any land so required.
(3) Unless the consent of the owner is obtained, before entering on any land for the purposes under subsection (1), the company must pay into the court at the registry of the court nearest to the land affected
(a) the sum which, after 2 clear days' notice to the owner of the land or to the person empowered to convey it or interested in it, is set by the court, and
(b) interest for 6 months on the sum set.
(4) The deposit must be retained to answer any compensation which may be awarded the person entitled to it.
(5) By order of the court, money on deposit may be paid out to the person so far as it goes in satisfaction of the award, and the surplus, if any, remaining after that must, by order of the court, be repaid to the company.
(6) Any deficiency in the deposit to satisfy the award must be promptly paid by the company to the person entitled to compensation under the award.
(a) any stone, gravel, earth, sand, water or other material is required for the construction, maintenance or operation of the railway or any part of it or the materials or water required are located or have been brought to a place at a distance from the line of railway, and
(b) the company wants to lay down the necessary tracks, spurs or branch lines, water pipes or conduits, over or through any land intervening between the railway and the land on which the materials or water are located or to which they have been brought,
the company may, if it cannot agree with the owner of the land for the purchase of it, cause a British Columbia land surveyor or an engineer to make a plan and description of the property or right of way, and must serve on each of the owners and occupiers of the land affected a copy of the plan and description, or of so much of it as relates to the land owned or occupied by them respectively, duly certified by the surveyor or engineer, and must file a copy of the plan and description in the ministry and apply for the approval of it by the minister.
(2) The minister may, by certificate, approve all or part of the plan and description, and then, and to the extent to which the approval of the minister is obtained, the company may exercise, in respect of the land shown on the plan and mentioned in the description, all the powers conferred by this Act, and the powers may be used to obtain the material or water required and the right of way to the material or water irrespective of the distance of it from the railway of the company.
(3) The company may, at its discretion, acquire the land from which the materials or water are taken, or on which the right of way to it is located, for a term of years or permanently.
(4) The notice of arbitration, if arbitration is resorted to, must state the extent of the privilege and title required.
(5) The tracks, spurs or branch lines constructed or laid by the company under this section must not be used for any purpose other than mentioned in this section, except by approval of the minister, and subject to terms and conditions the minister sees fit to impose.
38 (1) If a company can purchase a larger quantity of land from any particular owner at a more reasonable price, on the average, or on terms more advantageous than those on which it could obtain the portion of land which it may take from the owner without the owner's consent, it may purchase the larger quantity.
(2) A company may sell and dispose of any part of the land so purchased which may be unnecessary for its undertaking.
39 (1) On and after November 1 in each year, a company may enter any Crown land, or land of any person, lying along the route or line of the railway, and erect and maintain snow fences on it, subject to the payment of land damages, if any are actually suffered, as are after that established, in the manner provided by law with respect to the railway.
(2) Every snow fence erected must be removed on or before April 1 in the next following year.
40 (1) All tenants for life, guardians, committees, personal representatives, trustees and all other persons, as well for and on behalf of themselves, their heirs and successors, as on behalf of those whom they represent, whether infants, issue unborn, mentally disordered persons or other persons, seised, possessed of or interested in any land, may contract and sell and convey to a company all or any part of it.
(2) A company is not affected by a notice of and is not bound by any trust, and must not be impeded in the securing of title by any trust.
41 (1) When any of the persons or classes of persons mentioned in section 40 have no right in law to sell or convey the rights of property in the land, they or the company, on application to the court by petition in a summary manner, may obtain from the court, after notice to any persons interested as the court may direct, the right to sell the land.
(2) The court must make the orders necessary to secure the investment of the purchase money in the manner the court considers necessary or expedient for the protection of the interests of any beneficiary.
42 The powers conferred by sections 40 and 41 on
(a) ecclesiastical and other corporations,
(b) trustees of land for church or school purposes,
(c) executors appointed by wills under which they are not invested with any power over the real property of the will-maker, and
(d) administrators of persons dying intestate, but at their death seised of real property,
extend only to and must only be exercised with respect to land actually required for the use and occupation of a company.
43 (1) Any contract, agreement, sale, conveyance or assurance made under section 40, 41 or 42 is valid and effectual in law to all intents and purposes.
(2) Any conveyance so authorized vests in a company receiving it the fee simple in the land described in it, free from all trusts, restrictions and limitations.
(3) A person so contracting, selling and conveying is relieved from liability for what the person does under this Act.
44 A company is not responsible for the disposition of any purchase money for land taken by the company for its purposes if paid to the owner of the land or into court for the owner's benefit.
45 (1) Any contract or agreement made by any person authorized by this Act to convey land, either before the deposit of the plan, profile and book of reference, or before the setting out and ascertaining of the land required for the railway, is, if registered under the Land Title Act, binding at the price agreed on, if the land is afterwards so set out and ascertained within one year from the date of the contract or agreement, and although the land has in the meantime become the property of a third person after the registration or record.
(2) Possession of the land may be taken and the agreement and price may be dealt with as if the price had been set by an award of arbitrators as provided in this Act, and the agreement has the force of and is in the place of an award.
46 (1) If in any case not provided for in sections 14 to 45 any person interested in any land so set out and ascertained is not authorized by law to sell or alienate that land, the person may agree on a fixed annual rent as an equivalent, and not on a principal sum, to be paid.
(2) If the amount of the rent is not set by agreement, it must be set and all proceedings must be regulated in the manner prescribed by this Act for the taking of land.
47 The annual rent, and every other annual rent agreed on or ascertained, to be paid for the purchase of any land, or for any part of the purchase money of any land, which the vendor agrees to leave unpaid, must, on the deed creating the charge and liability being registered in the land title office, be chargeable as part of the working expenditure of the railway.
48 (1) After the expiration of 10 days from the deposit of the plan, profile and book of reference in the proper land title office, and after notice of it has been given in at least one newspaper, if any is published, in each of the districts and counties through which the railway is intended to pass, a company may apply to the owners of land, or to persons empowered to convey land or interested in land which may be taken, or which suffers damage from the taking of materials or the exercise of any of the powers granted for the railway, to make an agreement that seems expedient to both parties about the land or the compensation to be paid for it, or for the damages, or as to the mode in which the compensation is to be ascertained.
(2) If the parties fail to agree, all questions that arise between them must be settled as provided in this Act.
49 (1) The deposit of a plan, profile and book of reference, and the notice of the deposit, is deemed to be a general notice to all parties of the land which will be required for the railway and works.
(2) The date of the deposit is the date with reference to which compensation or damages must be ascertained, but if the company does not actually acquire title to the land within one year from the date of the deposit, then the date of the acquisition is the date with reference to which the compensation or damages must be ascertained.
50 The notice served on the owners of land, or persons empowered to convey land or interested in land, must contain
(a) a description of the land to be taken, or of the powers intended to be exercised with regard to any land described in it, and
(b) a declaration of readiness to pay a certain sum or rent as compensation for the land or for damages.
51 The notice must be accompanied by the affidavit of a British Columbia land surveyor, who is a disinterested person, stating the following:
(a) that the land, if the notice relates to the taking of land, is required for the railway or is within the limit of deviation allowed by this Act;
(b) that the surveyor knows the land or the amount of damage likely to arise from the exercise of the powers;
(c) that the sum offered is, in the surveyor's opinion, a fair compensation for the land and the damages likely to arise.
52 (1) If any owner or party in interest is absent from the district or county in which the land lies, or is unknown, an application for service by advertisement may be made to the court.
(2) The application must be accompanied by the affidavit required by section 51, and by an affidavit of some officer of the company, that the owner or party referred to in subsection (1) is absent, or that after diligent inquiry the person on whom the notice ought to be served cannot be ascertained.
(3) The court may order service by advertisement in the manner specified in the order.
(4) Compliance with the terms of the order has the effect of personal service.
53 (1) If, within 10 days after the service of the notice or within one month after the first publication of it, the owner or party referred to in section 50 does not give notice to a company that the owner or party accepts the sum offered by it, the amount of compensation must be determined by the court.
(2) The Expropriation Act applies to the determination of the amount of compensation.
54 (1) A company may pay an amount for compensation into court, with the interest on it for 6 months, and may deliver to the registrar of the court an authentic copy of a conveyance, or of an award or agreement if there is no conveyance, and register the conveyance, award or agreement in the proper land title office in any of the following circumstances:
(a) if the company has reason to fear any claim, mortgage or encumbrance;
(b) if any person to whom the compensation or annual rent or any part of it is payable refuses to execute a proper conveyance and guarantee;
(c) if the person entitled to claim the compensation or annual rent cannot be found, or is unknown to the company;
(d) if for any other reason the company considers it advisable.
(2) The conveyance, or the award or agreement, is then deemed to be the title of the company to the land mentioned in it.
55 (1) Notice of the payment and delivery, in the form and for the time the court appoints, must be published in the Gazette and in a newspaper published in the county in which the land is located, or, if there is no newspaper published in the county, then in a newspaper published in the nearest county to it in which a newspaper is published.
(a) state that the conveyance, agreement or award constituting the title of the company is obtained under this Act, and
(b) call on all persons claiming an interest in or entitled to the land or any part of it to file their claims to the compensation or any part of it.
56 (1) The compensation for any land which may be taken without the consent of the owner stands in the stead of that land.
(2) As against a company, any claim to or encumbrance on the land or any portion of it must be converted into a claim to the compensation, or to that proportion of it.
(3) A company is responsible when it has paid the compensation or any part of it to a person not entitled to receive it, saving always its recourse against that person.
57 (1) All the claims filed must be received and adjudicated on by the court, and the adjudication on them forever bars all claims to the land or any part of it, including any dower, mortgage or encumbrance.
(2) The court must make the appropriate order for the distribution, payment or investment of the compensation and for the security of the rights of all persons interested.
(3) If the order for distribution, payment or investment is obtained within 6 months from the payment of the compensation into court, the court must direct a proportionate part of the interest to be returned to the company.
(4) If from any error, fault or neglect of the company the order is not obtained until after 6 months have expired, the court must order the company to pay into court, as part of the compensation, the interest for the further period as is right.
(5) The court may order that all or a part of the costs of the proceedings, including the proper allowances to witnesses, be paid by the company or by any other person.
58 On payment or legal tender of the compensation or annual rent awarded or agreed on to the person entitled to receive it, or on the payment into court of the amount of the compensation, in the manner mentioned, the award or agreement vests in a company the power to promptly take possession of the land, or to exercise the right, or to do the thing for which the compensation or annual rent has been awarded or agreed on.
59 (1) If any resistance or forcible opposition is made by any person to the exercise by a company of that power, the court must, on proof of the award or agreement, issue a warrant to the sheriff of the district or county, or to a bailiff, to put down the resistance or opposition and put the company in possession.
(a) may employ persons to assist in the execution of the warrant, and
(b) must put down the resistance or opposition and put the company in possession.
(3) A warrant issued under this section must not be attacked or invalidated only for want of notice or form, or for any technical objection or objection to the jurisdiction.
60 A warrant must also be granted by the court without the award or agreement, on affidavit to its satisfaction that the immediate possession of the land or of the power to do the things mentioned in the notice is necessary to carry on some part of the railway with which the company is ready to proceed without delay.
61 The court must not grant a warrant under section 60 unless
(a) 10 days' notice of the time and place at which the application for the warrant is to be made has been served on the owner of the land, or the person empowered to convey the land or interested in the land sought to be taken, or which may suffer damage from the taking of materials sought to be taken, or the exercise of the powers sought to be exercised, or the doing of the things sought to be done by the company, and
(b) the company gives security to the court's satisfaction by payment into court of a sum in the court's estimation sufficient to cover the probable compensation and costs of the arbitration, and not less than 50% above the amount mentioned in the notice served on the party stating the compensation offered.
62 (1) The costs of the application and hearing before the court must be borne by the company unless the compensation awarded is not more than the company had offered to pay.
(2) No part of the deposit or of any interest on it may be repaid, or paid to the company, or paid to the owner or party, without an order from the court, which the court may make in accordance with the terms of the award.
63 Any proceeding under Parts 1, 3 and 5 to 7 of this Act relating to the ascertainment of payment of compensation, or the delivery of possession of land taken, or the putting down of resistance to the exercise of powers must be continued in the court in which the proceeding is commenced.
(a) take possession of, use or occupy any land belonging to another company,
(b) use and enjoy the whole or any portion of the right of way, tracks, terminals, stations or station grounds of another company, and
(c) have and exercise full right and power to run and operate its trains over and on any portion or portions of the railway of another company.
(2) A company may only exercise the powers listed in subsection (1) with the prior approval of the minister and subject to any order and direction which the minister may make in regard to the exercise, enjoyment or restriction of those powers.
(3) The approval may be given by certificate of the minister on application and notice, and, after a hearing, the minister may make the order, give the directions and impose the conditions or duties on either party as to the minister may appear just or desirable, having regard to the public and all proper interests.
(4) If the parties fail to agree as to compensation, the minister may, in a certificate or by order, set the amount of compensation to be paid in respect of the powers and privileges granted.
Part 13 — Branch Lines and Extensions
136 All the provisions of this Act with respect to the construction of the railway apply to, include and must be complied with in respect of the intended construction and in respect of the construction, maintenance and operation of branch lines and of extensions of the railway.
Part 14 — Railway Crossings and Junctions
138 (1) If the lines or tracks of the railway of one company are intersected or crossed by those of another, or on any application for permission to make an intersection or crossing, or in any case in which the tracks or lines of 2 different railways run through or into the same city, town or village, the minister may, on the application of one of the companies, or of a municipal corporation or other public body, or of any person or persons interested, by certificate, order that the lines or tracks of the railways must be so connected at or near the point of intersection or crossing or in or near the city, town or village as to allow the safe and convenient transfer or passing of engines, cars and trains from the tracks or lines of one railway to those of another, and that the connection must be maintained and used.
(2) In and by the certificate providing for the connection, or subsequently, the minister may determine by what company or companies, or other corporations or persons, and in what proportions, the cost of making and maintaining the connections are to be borne, and on what terms traffic is to be transferred by them from the lines of one railway to those of another.
161 (1) Every station of the company must be erected, operated and maintained with good and sufficient accommodation and facilities for traffic.
180 If a railway crosses a highway at rail level, the company must not, and its officers, agents or employees must not, wilfully permit an engine, tender or car to stand on any part of the highway for a longer period than 5 minutes at one time, or, when shunting, to obstruct public traffic for a longer period than 5 minutes at one time, or, in the opinion of the minister, unnecessarily interfere with it.
183 A person injured while on the platform of a car or on a baggage car or freight car in violation of the printed regulations posted at the time has no claim in respect of the injury if room inside the passenger cars sufficient for the proper accommodation of passengers was available at the time.
185 (1) A conductor or other person in charge of a train owned or operated by a company on any railway which is operated exclusively as a logging railway or in connection with mines is not under any obligation to any person other than the company operating the train to receive or carry any passenger, baggage or goods in or on the train.
(2) A conductor or other person in charge of a train described in subsection (1), and the company owning or operating the train, is not liable in damages or in any other way for refusal to receive or carry the passenger, baggage or goods.
(3) and (4) [Repealed 2004-8-29.]
(5) If it is shown to the satisfaction of the minister that the use of a railway described in subsection (1) for the carriage of passengers and goods is necessary or desirable in order to facilitate development of the natural resources of British Columbia, the minister may grant a permit in writing to the company owning or operating the railway, authorizing the company to receive and carry passengers and goods under this subsection and subsections (6) to (9).
(6) A company to which a permit is granted under subsection (5) may enter into a contract with any person for the carriage on its railway of that person as a passenger, or with any person for the carriage on its railway of goods owned by the person, if
(a) cars and equipment suitable for the purpose are used, and
(b) the cars and equipment have first been inspected by the inspecting engineer of the ministry and approved by the minister.
(7) A contract entered into for the purposes of subsection (6) may
(a) provide for the charging and collection of tolls for the carriage of the passenger or goods,
(b) limit the liability of the company, its servants or agents, or exempt the company, its servants or agents, from any liability otherwise existing under this or any other Act or at common law, for any damage arising out of the carriage of the passenger or goods under the contract, and
(c) contain further reasonable terms and conditions the minister may approve.
(8) No contract has effect or is deemed sufficient for the purposes of subsections (5) to (9) unless it is
(a) signed by the person who is carried as a passenger, or by the person whose goods are carried, or by the agent in that behalf of the owner of the goods, and
(b) written or printed in a form and manner approved by the minister as suitable for bringing its material terms to the attention of the person signing it.
(9) The minister may, at any time by notice in writing to the company, revoke any permit granted to the company under subsection (5).
(10) Sections 186, 187, 198, 204, 205 and 225 do not apply to a railway that carries passengers or goods under a permit granted under subsection (5).
Part 25 — Accommodation for Traffic
186 (1) A company must, according to its powers, do the following:
(a) furnish, at the place of starting, and at the junction of the railway with other railways, and at all stopping places established for the purpose, adequate and suitable accommodation for the receiving and loading of all traffic offered for carriage on the railway;
(b) furnish adequate and suitable accommodation for the carrying, unloading and delivery of the traffic;
(c) without delay, and with care and diligence, receive, carry and deliver the traffic;
(d) furnish and use all proper appliances, accommodation and means necessary for receiving, loading, carrying, unloading and delivering the traffic.
(2) The accommodation must include reasonable facilities for the junction of private siding or private branch railways with any railway belonging to or worked by the company, and reasonable facilities for receiving, forwarding and delivering traffic on and from those sidings or private branch railways, together with the placing of cars and moving them on and from the private sidings and private branch railways.
(3) If in any case the accommodation is not, in the opinion of the minister, furnished by the company, the minister may, by certificate,
(a) order the company to furnish the accommodation within the time or during the period the minister considers expedient, having regard to all proper interests, or
(b) prohibit or limit the use, either generally or on any specified railway or part of it, of any engines, locomotives, cars, rolling stock, apparatus, machinery or devices, or any class or kind of them, not equipped as required by this Act or by any certificate of the minister.
(4) The traffic must be taken, carried to and from and delivered at the places mentioned on the payment of the toll lawfully payable.
(5) If a company's railway crosses or joins or approaches, in the opinion of the minister, sufficiently near to any other railway on which passengers or mails are transported, the minister may, by the certificate, order the company
(a) to regulate the running of its trains carrying passengers or mails, and the places and times of stopping them, so as to provide reasonable opportunity for the transfer of passengers and mails between its railway and the other railway, and
(b) to furnish reasonable facilities and accommodation for that purpose.
(6) For the purposes of this section, the minister may, by certificate, order that
(a) specific works be constructed or carried out,
(d) cars, motive power or other equipment be allotted, distributed, used or moved as specified by the minister, or
(e) any specified steps, systems or methods be taken or followed by any particular company or companies, or by railway companies generally.
(7) A person aggrieved by any neglect or refusal of the company to comply with the requirements of this section has a right of action for it against the company, from which action the company is not relieved by any notice.
(8) The minister may, by certificate, make regulations, applying generally or to any particular railway or any portion of it, imposing charges for default or delay by any company in furnishing accommodation, appliances or means as mentioned, or in receiving, loading, carrying, unloading or delivering traffic.
(9) The minister may enforce payment of the charges by the company to any person injuriously affected by the default or delay, and any amount received by any person must be deducted from the damages recoverable or recovered by the person for the default or delay.
(10) The minister may, by certificate, determine what circumstances exempt any company from payment of the charges.
187 (1) If a line of one railway joins or connects the line or lines of that railway with another, the minister may, by certificate, on application of one of the companies or of a municipal corporation or other public body, order that the railway company that constructed the branch line must provide all reasonable and proper facilities, by means of the branch, for the interchange of freight and livestock traffic, and the empty cars incidental to it, between the lines of that railway and those of the railway with which that branch is so joined or connected, in both directions, and also between the lines of the first mentioned railway and those of other railways connecting with the lines of the first mentioned railway, and all tracks and sidings used by the first mentioned railway for the purpose of loading and unloading cars, and owned or controlled by or connecting with the lines of the company owning or controlling the first mentioned railway, and other tracks and sidings the minister directs.
(2) The minister may, by certificate, determine as questions of fact and direct the price per car that must be charged by and paid to the company owning or controlling the first mentioned railway for that traffic.
197 (1) If damage is caused to any property by a fire started by any railway locomotive, the company making use of the locomotive, whether guilty of negligence or not, is liable for the damage, and may be sued for the recovery of the amount of the damage in any court of competent jurisdiction.
(2) Despite subsection (1), if it is shown that the company has used modern and efficient appliances, and has not otherwise been guilty of any negligence, the total amount of compensation recoverable from the company under this section in respect of any one or more claims for damage from a fire or fires started by the same locomotive and on the same occasion must not exceed $5 000.
(3) Despite subsection (1), if there is any insurance existing on the property destroyed or damaged, the total amount of damages sustained by any claimant in respect of the destruction or damage of the property must, for the purposes of subsection (1), be reduced by the amount accepted or recovered by or for the benefit of the claimant in respect of that insurance.
(4) No action lies against the company because of anything in any policy of insurance or because of payment of any money under it.
(5) The compensation, in case the total amount recovered for it is less than the claims established, must be apportioned among the parties who suffered the loss as the court may determine.
(6) The company has an insurable interest in all property on or along its route for which it may be held liable to compensate the owners for loss or damage by fire caused by a railway locomotive, and may procure insurance on it in its own behalf.
Part 27 — Contracts Respecting Traffic
198 (1) A company must not tender to or make with any person or shipper any contract which purports to throw on that person or shipper the necessity or onus of proving as against the company negligence in the event of loss or damage to any goods conveyed on the railway or any part of the undertaking of the company, or which exempts the company from liability in the event of theft or wilful injury to goods by any of the employees of the company.
(2) A company is liable for the loss of or damage to goods entrusted to the company for conveyance, except that the company is not liable when the loss or damage happens
(a) without actual fault or privity of the company, or without the fault or neglect of its agents, servants or employees,
(b) due to fire or the dangers of navigation,
(c) from any defect in or from the nature of the goods themselves, or
(d) from armed robbery or other irresistible force.
(3) A company is not liable for any total or partial loss of gold or silver, diamonds, watches, jewels or precious stones, money or valuable securities, including every document forming the title or evidence of the title to any property of any kind, or articles of great value not being ordinary merchandise, by reason of any robbery, theft, removal or secreting of them, unless their true nature and value has, at the time of delivery for conveyance, been declared by the owner or shipper to the company or its agent or servant, and entered in the bill of lading or otherwise in writing.
(4) A company is liable for loss or injury to livestock or merchandise in the receiving, forwarding or delivering of it occasioned by neglect or default, despite any notice, condition or declaration in any way limiting the liability.
(5) Any notice referred to in subsection (4) is null and void.
(6) Nothing in subsection (4) or (5) is to be construed to prevent the minister authorizing the insertion in bills of lading of conditions with respect to receiving, forwarding and delivering traffic as the minister considers just and reasonable.
(7) No greater damages may be recovered for a horse than $200, unless declared by the shipper of higher value at the time of delivery for carriage, when the company may demand a reasonable percentage on the excess of value as compensation for increased risk and care.
(8) If a higher value is declared under subsection (7),
(a) the percentage or increased rate of charge is to be at a rate first approved by the minister,
(b) proof of value and of amount of injury lies on the person claiming compensation, and
(c) no special contract in any way respecting the receiving, forwarding and delivering is binding on or affects any shipper or consignee unless signed by that person or the person delivering the traffic.
204 (1) All companies must, according to their respective powers, provide to all persons and companies all reasonable and proper facilities for the receiving, forwarding and delivering of traffic on and from their several railways, for the interchange of traffic between their respective railways, and for the return of rolling stock.
(2) The facilities to be provided include
(a) the due and reasonable receiving, forwarding and delivering by the company, at the request of any other company, of through traffic, and, in case of goods shipped by carload, of the car with the goods shipped in it, to and from the railway of the other company, at a through rate, and
(b) the due and reasonable receiving, forwarding and delivering by the company, at the request of any person interested in through traffic, of the traffic at through rates.
(3) A company must not do any of the following:
(a) make or give any undue or unreasonable preference or advantage to or in favour of any particular person or company, or any particular description of traffic, in any respect;
(b) by any unreasonable delay or otherwise in any manner, make any difference in treatment in the receiving, loading, forwarding, unloading or delivery of the goods of a similar character in favour of or against any particular person or company;
(c) subject any particular person or company, or any particular description of traffic, to any undue or unreasonable prejudice or disadvantage, in any respect;
(d) so distribute or allot its freight cars as to discriminate unjustly against any locality or industry, or against any traffic which may originate on its railway destined to a point on another railway with which it connects.
(4) A company which has or works a railway forming part of a continuous line of railway with or which intersects any other railway, or which has any terminus, station or wharf near to any terminus, station or wharf of any other railway, must provide all due and reasonable facilities for delivering to the other railway, or for receiving from and forwarding by its railway, all the traffic arriving by the other railway
(a) without any unreasonable delay,
(b) without any preference or advantage or prejudice or disadvantage as mentioned,
(c) so that no obstruction is offered to the public wanting to use the railways as a continuous line of communication, and
(d) so that all reasonable accommodation, by means of the railways of the several companies, is at all times provided to the public.
(5) The reasonable facilities which every railway company is required to provide under this section include reasonable facilities for the junction of private sidings or private branch railways with any railway belonging to or worked by the company, and reasonable facilities for receiving, forwarding and delivering traffic on and from those sidings or private branch railways.
(6) A company which grants any facilities for the carriage of goods by express to any incorporated express company or person must grant equal facilities, on equal terms and conditions, to any other incorporated express company which demands such facilities.
(7) Any agreement made between any 2 or more companies contrary to this section is unlawful and null and void.
205 (1) The minister may, by certificate, determine, as questions of fact, whether or not traffic is or has been carried under substantially similar circumstances and conditions, and whether there has in any case been unjust discrimination, or undue or unreasonable preference or advantage, or prejudice or disadvantage, within the meaning of this Act, or whether in any case the company has or has not complied with section 204.
(2) The minister may, by certificate, declare what constitutes
(a) substantially similar circumstances and conditions, or unjust or unreasonable preferences, advantages, prejudices or disadvantages within the meaning of this Act, or
(b) compliance or noncompliance with the provisions of this Part.
(3) For the purposes of this Part, the minister may, by certificate, order that
(a) specific works be constructed or carried out,
(d) cars, motive power or other equipment be allotted, distributed, used or moved, as specified by the minister, or
(e) any specified steps, systems or methods be taken or followed by any particular company or companies, or by railway companies generally.
206 In deciding whether a lower toll or difference in treatment does or does not amount to an undue preference or an unjust discrimination, the minister may consider whether the lower toll or difference in treatment is necessary for the purpose of making possible, in the interests of the public, the shipment of the traffic in respect of which it is made.
207 In any case in which the toll charged by the company for carriage, partly by rail and partly by water, is expressed in a single sum, the minister, for the purpose of determining whether a toll charged is discriminatory or contrary in any way to this Act, may by summary order require the company to declare promptly to the minister, or may determine, what portion of the single sum is charged in respect of the carriage by rail.
Part 32 — General Provisions Respecting Carriage
225 (1) Except as provided in this Act, a contract, condition, bylaw, regulation, declaration or notice made or given by the company, impairing, restricting or limiting its liability in respect of the carriage of any traffic does not relieve the company from that liability, unless the class of contract, condition, bylaw, regulation, declaration or notice has been first authorized or approved by order of the minister by certificate.
(2) The minister may, by certificate, determine the extent to which the liability of the company may be impaired, restricted or limited.
229 In case of refusal or neglect of payment on demand of any lawful tolls or any part of them, the tolls or any part of them are, by and on behalf of the company, recoverable in any court of competent jurisdiction.
230 (1) Instead of proceeding under section 229 for the recovery of the tolls, a company may
(a) seize the goods for or in respect of which the tolls are payable, and
(b) detain the goods until payment.
(2) During the time a company detains goods under subsection (1), the goods are at the risk of their owners.
(3) If the tolls are not paid within 6 weeks, and, where the goods are perishable goods, if the tolls are not paid on demand, or the goods are liable to perish while in the possession of the company for delay in payment or taking delivery by the consignee, the company may advertise and sell all or any part of the goods, and out of the money arising from the sale retain the tolls payable and all reasonable charges and expenses of the seizure, detention and sale.
(4) The company must pay or deliver the surplus, if any, or the goods that remain unsold, to the person entitled to them.
231 (1) If any goods remain in the possession of a company unclaimed for 12 months, the company may, on giving public notice by advertisement for 4 weeks in the Gazette and in other newspapers it considers necessary, sell the goods by public auction, at a time and place mentioned in the advertisement, and out of the proceeds pay the tolls and all reasonable charges for storing, advertising and selling the goods.
(2) The balance of the proceeds, if any, must be kept by the company for a further period of 3 months, to be paid over to any person entitled to it.
232 (1) In this section, "administrator" has the same meaning as in the Unclaimed Property Act.
(1.1) The company must transfer the following to the administrator on the expiry of the applicable period:
(a) any surplus of the proceeds of a sale under section 230 (3) that is not claimed within the 3 month period after the date of the sale;
(b) the balance of the proceeds of a sale under section 231 (1) that is not claimed within the 3 month period referred to in section 231 (2).
(2) Money transferred to the administrator under subsection (1.1) is deemed to be an unclaimed money deposit under the Unclaimed Property Act.
253 (1) In any proceeding for indemnity for damages or injuries sustained because of the construction or operation of a railway, the defendants may prove that the damage or injury alleged to have been done was under this Act.
(2) Nothing in this section applies to any action brought against the company on any breach of contract, express or implied, for or relating to the carriage of any traffic, or to any action against the company for damages under the provisions of this Act respecting tolls.
(3) No inspection done under this Act, and nothing in this Act and nothing done or ordered or omitted to be done or ordered, under this Act, relieves, or is to be construed to relieve, any company of or from or in any way diminish or affect any liability or responsibility resting on it, either toward the government or any person, or the spouse, parent or child, executor or administrator, heir or personal representative, of any person, for anything done or omitted to be done by the company, or for any wrongful act, neglect or default, misfeasance, malfeasance or nonfeasance of the company.
255 (1) The commissioner of the Provincial police force and any inspector of the force may, on the application of the company, or the application of a clerk or agent of the company, appoint any person recommended for that purpose by the company, clerk or agent to act as constable on and along a railway owned or operated by the company.
(2) A person appointed under subsection (1) must take an oath or make a solemn declaration, which may be administered by any judge or official authorized to make the appointment or to administer oaths, in the form or to the effect following:
I, A.B., having been appointed a constable to act upon and along [name of railway], under the Railway Act, swear that I will well and truly serve our Sovereign Lady the Queen in the office of constable, without favour or affection, malice or ill will; that I will, to the best of my power, cause the peace to be kept, and prevent all offences against the peace; and that while I continue to hold the office I will, to the best of my skill and knowledge, discharge its duties faithfully, according to law. So help me God.
(3) The appointment must be made in writing and be signed by the official making the appointment, and the fact that the person appointed by the written appointment has taken the oath or declaration must be endorsed on the written appointment by the person administering the oath or declaration.
256 (1) A constable appointed who has taken the oath or made the declaration may act as a constable for the preservation of the peace, and for the security of persons and property against unlawful acts
(a) on the railway, and on any of the works belonging to it,
(b) on and about any trains, roads, wharves, quays, landing places, warehouses, land and premises belonging to the company, whether they are in the county, city, town, municipality, district or other local jurisdiction within which the constable was appointed, or in any other place through which the railway passes or in which it terminates, or through or to which any railway passes which is worked or leased by the company, and
(c) in all places not more than 1/4 mile distant from the railway.
(2) A constable appointed under this Part has all the powers, protection and privileges for the apprehending of offenders, as well by night as by day, and for doing all things for the prevention, discovery and prosecution of offences, and for keeping the peace, as any constable duly appointed has within the constable's jurisdiction.
257 The minister may by summary order, and the commissioner of the Provincial police force may by summary order, cancel the appointment of and dismiss any constable appointed under this Part.
282 (1) If in any special Act there is a provision that prevents the application of any section in any Act repealed by S.B.C. 1911, c. 44, to the undertaking of the company named in the special Act, the similar provision in this Act to the repealed section does not apply to the undertaking.
(2) If in and by the special Act provision is made for the application to the undertaking of the company by express enumeration of any section or sections of a repealed Act, the section or sections expressly enumerated, for the purposes of the special Act and of the undertaking of the company named in the special Act, remain in full force, and must be taken to be and to have always been incorporated with and to form and to have always formed part of the special Act.
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