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(Light Rail) Bill 1996
Explanatory note
This explanatory note relates to this Bill as introduced into Parliament.*
(a)
to amend the Transport Administration Act 1988:
*
to expand the functions of the Director-General of the
Department of Transport with respect to the provision of
appropriate passenger services in order to facilitate the
development and operation of light rail services, and
*
to confer additional powers on the Director-General, including
powers in relation to the acquisition and disposal of land, to
enable the Director-General to exercise his or her light rail and
other functions effectively, and
*
to make special provision for the development and operation of
light rail systems and matters incidental to the construction and
operation of such systems, and
* Amended in committee-see table at end of volume.
(b)
to make consequential amendments to the Local Government Act 1993,
the Motor Accidents Act 1988, the Rail Safety Act 1993, the Roads Act
1993 and the Traffic Act 1909.
Clause 2 provides for the commencement of the proposed Act on a day or
days to be appointed by proclamation.
Clause 3 is a formal provision giving effect to the amendments to the
Transport Administration Act 1988 set out in Schedule 1.
Clause 4 is a formal provision giving effect to the amendments of Acts set
out in Schedule 2.
Schedule 1
Amendment of Transport Administration Act
1988
Provisions relating to functions of Director-General and light
rail
Schedule 1 [4] inserts provisions to confirm the functions of the
Director-General of the Department of Transport in relation to light rail
services.
Schedule 1 [11] inserts Division 2A into Part 9 of the Principal Act.
Subdivision 1 (proposed sections 104A-104K) of the Division deals with
general matters relating to the functions of the Director-General.
The term functions is defined so as to cover all of the Director-General's
transport functions. (See proposed section 104A.) Provision is made to
enable the functions of the Director-General to be exercised through the
proposed Transport Administration Corporation (or through joint ventures or
other associations). The ability of the Director-General to exercise functions
in his or her own capacity, and to enter contracts on behalf of the Crown, is
preserved. (See proposed sections 104B and 104C.)
Provision is made for the establishment of the Transport Administration
Corporation as a statutory body representing the Crown. The Corporation is
taken to be part of the Department of Transport and is under the management
and control of the Director-General. (See proposed section 104D.)
Explanatory note page 2
The current provision conferring power on the Director-General to enter into
contracts (section 43 of the Principal Act) is repealed and re-enacted in
substantially the same form in the new Subdivision. (See Schedule 1 [6] and
proposed section 1 ME.)
Provisions are inserted conferring powers on the Director-General in relation
to the sale, lease or other disposal of land, the compulsory acquisition of land
and the exercise of other functions concerning land. (See proposed sections
104F-104I.)
The Director-General is given specific annual reporting functions with
respect to activities and objectives concerning passenger transport facilities
(including light rail). (See proposed section 104J.)
A power is inserted to enable the making of regulations relating to passenger
transport facilities (including light rail). (See proposed section 104K.)
Subdivision 2 (proposed sections 104L-104U) of Division 2A contains
special provisions dealing with light rail. Definitions are provided for the
purposes of the Subdivision. (See proposed section 104L.)
Light rail service is defined to ensure that it includes all forms of light rail
vehicle passenger services. (See proposed section 104M.)
Light rail system is defined as a light rail service provided over a route
declared by the regulations on the recommendation of both the Minister for
Transport and the Minister for Roads, including vehicles and associated
infrastructure. (See proposed section 104N.)
The Director-General is authorised to develop and operate light rail systems
or to facilitate their development and operation by others. (See proposed
section 1040.)
Provision is made for the application of Part 5 (instead of Part 4) of the
Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 to the development of
light rail systems. If an EIS is required, the approval of the Minister for
Urban Affairs and Planning will be necessary. (See proposed section 104P.)
Local government building and subdivision approvals will not be required for
light rail systems. (See proposed section 104Q.)
Provision is made concerning the creation of easements, rights of way and
restrictions on the use of land for the purposes of the development and
operation of light rail systems. Compensation will not be payable for the
compulsory acquisition of interests in land that consist of easements for the
support of catenaries for a light rail system (that is, the overhead
conductor-wires) from buildings, structures or land or for interests under, on
or over a public road. (See proposed section 104R.)
Explanatory note page 3
Land used for the purposes of construction and operation of a light rail
system will be exempt from the payment of rates and land tax. However, this
exemption does not extend to land used for administrative offices, workshops
or similar facilities or other purposes prescribed by the regulations. (See
proposed section 1 04S.)
Regulations may be made to exempt any matter concerning the development
of a light rail system from the payment of stamp duty under the Stamp Duties
Act 1920. (See proposed section 104T.)
The Director-General or persons authorised by the Director-General are
authorised to alter the position of conduits used for the conveyance of
substances, energy or signals in order to facilitate the development or
operation of light rail systems. (See proposed section 104U.)
Consequential and other provisions
Schedule 1 [1]-[3] make consequential amendments relating to the functions
of the Director-General.
Schedule 1 [5] makes an amendment by way of statute law revision.
Schedule 1 [7] and [8] provide for a representative of light rail operators on
the Public Transport Authority.
Schedule 1 [9] and [10] make amendments concerning payment of penalties
recovered for offences that are consequential on the re-location of provisions
dealing with certain railway offences from the Principal Act to the Rail Safety
Act I993 and other changes.
Schedule l [12] enables the making of regulations of a savings, transitional
or other nature in consequence of the enactment of the proposed Act.
Schedule l [13] terminates an agreement between the Sydney City Council
and certain government agencies relating to the use of roads by the Ultimo/
Pyrmont light rail system that has been superseded by the new arrangements
for light rail provided by the proposed Act. Provision is made to re-vest the
public roads involved in the Sydney City Council.
Schedule 2
Amendment of other Acts
The Local Government Act 1993 is amended to exempt the owner or operator
of a light rail system from a provision dealing with the imposition of an
annual charge in respect of a rail, pipe, wire, pole, cable, tunnel or structure
laid, erected, suspended, constructed or placed on, under or over a public
place in relation to the operation of that system. The regulations may exclude
a matter from the exemption.
Explanatory note page 4
The definition of motor vehicle in the Motor Accidents Act 1988 is amended
to make it clear that the definition extends to light rail vehicles and,
consequently, that the third party insurance scheme provided for by that Act
extends to vehicles on light rail systems.
The Rail Safety Act 1993 is amended:
to provide that if the Director-General of the Department of Transport
is the owner or operator of a railway, the functions of the
Director-General under that Act in relation to the railway concerned
are to be exercised by the- Minister, and
to make it a condition of the accreditation of the owner or operator of a
railway that third-party policies required under the Motor Accidents
Act 1988 have been issued for vehicles on a light rail system, and
to make provision for offences relating to the failure to pay fares on a
railway and relating to the control of trains, their drivers and
passengers on railways (the offences having been re-located from the
Transport Administration Act 1988 and extended to light rail).
The Roads Act 1993 is amended:
to make it clear that the right of passage along public roads by
members of the public extends to the right of passage of members of
the public in a light rail or other railway vehicle, and
to require that a roads authority must not take action that prevents or
obstructs the passage of a light rail vehicle along a declared light rail
route without the prior consent of the Director-General of the
Department of Transport, and
to specify that, in the case of works or other action in connection with
a light rail system that requires the consent of a roads authority, that
consent is not required (if the roads authority is not the RTA) but that
the work or other action must not be carried out or taken unless the
consent of the RTA has been obtained, and
to authorise the RTA (in place of the relevant roads authority, if it is
not the RTA) to give directions, impose requirements or exercise other
functions of a roads authority under the Act in connection with the
development or operation of a light rail system, and
*
to make consequential amendments.
Explanatory note page 5
The Traffic Act 1909 is amended to make it clear that light rail vehicles are
included in the definitions of motor vehicle and vehicle in that Act with the
effect that the offence provisions of and under that Act relating to the
operation of motor vehicles and vehicles apply to light rail vehicles and their
drivers. However, specific provision is made that light rail vehicles are not
required to be registered under that Act nor are their drivers required to be
licensed. (Accreditation requirements in relation to light rail vehicles and
their drivers are contained in the Rail Safety Act 1993.) In addition, the
Traffic Act 1909 is amended to enable the Director-General of the
Department of Transport and a light rail operator to remove dangers and
obstructions on a public street used by a light rail system. The
Director-General or a person authorised by the Director-General will also be
authorised to tow-away unattended vehicles that are obstructing the passage
of a light rail vehicle.
Explanatory note page 6