Statute Law Repeals - Law Commission - Ministry of Justice

(2) Railway Companies (Accounts and Returns) Act 1911
9.225 The Railway Companies (Accounts and Returns) Act 1911 499 was passed at a
time when the railway industry was viewed as being in urgent need of control.
The railway companies were amongst the largest corporations in Britain and were
at the forefront of the development of company law. The 1911 Act was intended
to update the existing law 500 concerning the making of returns and accounts by
railway companies by imposing a requirement on railway companies not only to
provide the Board of Trade with annual accounts and returns but also to keep
their accounts relating to railway operations separate from their other commercial
undertakings.
9.226 Although the 1911 Act remains on the statute book in England, Wales and
Scotland, 501 it has long fallen into disuse. The powers in section 1 authorising the
Minister of Transport to direct the form and content of the annual accounts and
returns have not been exercised for many years. The scope of the 1911 Act
originally extended to railway companies generally. It was, however, disapplied
for any railway that vested in the British Railways Board under the Transport Act
1962, 502 thereby excluding any railway company that came into public ownership
at nationalisation in 1948. Accordingly the 1911 Act is today limited to railway
companies that were set up by special Act and escaped nationalisation. Such
companies, including many heritage railways, remain subject to the requirements
of the general law about the production and filing of accounts which has
developed considerably since 1911. 503
9.227 Accordingly the 1911 Act has become obsolete and may now be repealed on that
basis. A consequential repeal is section 10 of the Transport Charges etc
(Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1954 504 (which amended the 1911 Act and
repealed Railways Act 1921 provisions). Other consequential repeals are of
provisions disapplying the 1911 Act. 505
499 1 & 2 Geo.5 c.34.
500 Regulation of Railways Act 1868 (31 & 32 Vict. c.119), ss 3 to 5.
501 The 1911 Act was repealed for Northern Ireland by SI 1977/599 (NI 10).
502 Transport Act 1962, s 24(4). This exclusion originally appeared in section 94(6) of the
Transport Act 1947 when the nationalised railway companies were vested in the British
Transport Commission.
503 See, for example, the Companies Act 2006, Pt 15 (Accounts and Reports).
504 2 & 3 Eliz.2 c.64.
505
Channel Tunnel Rail Link Act 1996 (c.61), Sch 9, Pt 2, para 6; Crossrail Act 2008 (c.18),
Sch 11, para 5.
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