Light Railways Act 1896
Long title | An Act to facilitate the Construction of Light Railways in Great Britain. |
---|---|
Citation | 59 & 60 Vict. c.48 |
Territorial extent | England and Wales and Scotland[2] |
Dates | |
Royal assent | 14 August 1896 |
Commencement | 14 August 1896[3] |
Text of statute as originally enacted | |
Text of the Light Railways Act 1896 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk. |
The Light Railways Act 1896 (59 & 60 Vict. c.48) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (as it then was). Before the Act each new railway line built in the country required a specific Act of Parliament to be obtained by the company that wished to construct it, which greatly added to the cost and time it took to construct new railways. The economic downturn of the 1880s had hit agriculture and rural communities in the United Kingdom especially hard and the government wished to facilitate the construction of railways in rural areas, especially to facilitate the transport of goods. The 1896 Act defined a class of railways which did not require specific legislation to construct – companies could simply plan a line under the auspices of the new Act, and, having obtained a light railway order, build and operate it. By reducing the legal costs and allowing new railways to be built quickly the government hoped to encourage companies to build the new 'light railways' in areas of low population and industry that were previously of little interest to them.
A light railway is not a tramway but a separate class of railway. The creation of the act was triggered by a combination of problems with the complexity of creating low cost railways that were needed at the time for rural areas, and the successful use of tramway rules to create the Wisbech and Upwell Tramway in 1882 which was in fact a light railway in all but name.
The Light Railways Act did not specify any exceptions or limitations that should apply to light railways; it did not even attempt to define a 'light railway'. However, it gave powers to the Light Railway Commissioners to include 'provisions for the safety of the public... as they think necessary for the proper construction and working of the railway' in any light railway order (LRO) granted under the Act. These could limit vehicle axle weights and speeds - a maximum speed of 25 miles per hour (mph) is often associated with the Light Railways Act but no speed limit is specified in the Act. However, limits were particularly needed when lightly laid track and relatively modest bridges were used in order to keep costs down. LROs could also exempt light railways from some of the requirements of a normal railway – level crossings did not have to be protected by gates, but only by cattle grids, saving the cost of both the gates and a keeper to operate them. It did not exclude standard-gauge track, but narrow gauge tracks were used for many railways built under its provisions. Many of the railways built under the auspices of the Act were very basic, with little or no signalling (many ran under the 'one engine in steam' principle).
A number of municipal and company-owned street tramways were built or extended by the Act, in preference to the Tramways Act 1870. The procedure of the 1896 Act was simpler, permission easier to obtain (local authorities had the right to veto lines under the 1870 legislation), and there was a 75% savings on rates payable as compared to a tramway.
The Light Railways Act was never a great success. By the 1920s the use of road transport killed the majority of these little railways although some survived thanks to clever management and tight financial control.
Until the Transport and Works Act 1992 introduced transport works orders, heritage railways in the UK were operated under light railway orders.
Railways built under the act
Preserved
- Kent and East Sussex Railway, opened in 1900
- Vale of Rheidol Light Railway, opened continuously in 1902
- Welshpool and Llanfair Light Railway, opened in 1903, closed in 1956, reconstructed and reopened between 1963 and 1981 on the entire route expect Welshpool city section
- Mid-Suffolk Light Railway, opened in 1905, closed in 1952, very short section opened over 40 years later
- Derwent Valley Light Railway, opened in 1913, short section operating as heritage
Closed
Railway Name | Opened | Closed | Length | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Lee-on-Solent Light Railway | May 12, 1894 | September 30, 1935 | 3 miles | Re-authorized under the act in 1899. |
Weston, Clevedon & Portishead Light Railway | December 1, 1987 | 1940 | 13.8 mi (22.2 km) | Re-authorized under the act in 1899. Extension from Clevendon to Portishead opened August 7, 1907. Land cleared in 1942-43 for the war effort. |
Bankfoot Light Railway | 1898 | ?? | ?? | |
Corringham Light Railway | January 1, 1901 | (September 20, 1971) | 3 1/2 miles | Part of it currently an ExxonMobil junction. |
Basingstoke and Alton Light Railway | June 1, 1901 | 1936 | 12 mi (19 km) | Track removed in 1917, then relaid in 1924 |
Lauder Light Railway | July 2, 1901 | September 30, 1958 | ?? | |
Poole and District Light Railway | 1901 | ?? | ?? | |
Sheppey Light Railway | 1901 | December 4, 1950 | ?? | |
Fraserburgh to St Combs (branch) Light Railway | July 1, 1903 | 1965 | ?? | |
Wick and Lybster Light Railway | July 1, 1903 | April 1, 1944 | 13 mi 39 chains (21.7 km) | |
Tanat Valley Light Railway | January 5, 1904 | December 1960 | 15 mi (24 km) | A heritage railroad bearing the name was established in 2009, operating a short line close to the original alignment, of which nothing was ever rebuilt. |
Kelvedon and Tollesbury Light Railway | October 1, 1904 | September 9, 1962 | 8 mi 42 chains (13.7 km) | |
Leek and Manifold Valley Light Railway | 1904 | March 3, 1934 | 8.25 mi (13.28 km) | |
Cairn Valley Light Railway | February 28, 1905 | July 04, 1949 | ?? | |
Bentley and Bordon Light Railway | December 11, 1905 | April 4, 1966 | ?? | |
Horton Light Railway | 1905 | 1950? | ?? | Track was lifted around 1950. Closure date unknown. |
Campbeltown and Machrihanish Light Railway | August 18, 1906 | 1934 | ?? | Replaced a previous industrial railway built in 1876. |
Falkland Light Railway | 1906 | ?? | ?? | |
North Lindsey Light Railway | 1906 | 1951 | ?? | |
Cleobury Mortimer and Ditton Priors Light Railway | November 21, 1908 | 1960 | 12 mi (19 km) | |
Bere Alston and Calstock Light Railway | 1908 | ?? | ?? | Branch line. |
Shropshire and Montgomeryshire Light Railway | 1911 | 1960 | ?? | |
Elsenham and Thaxted Light Railway | April 1, 1913 | June 1, 1953 | 5.5 mi (8.9 km) | |
Sand Hutton Light Railway | 1922 | 1932 | 5.25 mi (8.45 km) | Replaced a previous Sand Hutton Miniature Railway, bulit in 1912. |
Ashover Light Railway | 1924-1925? | March 31, 1950 | 7.25 mi (11.67 km) | |
North Devon and Cornwall Junction Light Railway | July 27, 1925 | March 1, 1965 | ?? | Upgrade of a previous industrial tramway. |
Cromarty and Dingwall Light Railway | never opened | - | ?? | Construction never completed, track lifted by 1920. |
Railways operated under the Act
- Heart of Wales Line, since 1972
A number of railways have, over the years, been built on private land and called names that end in Light Railway. These have not needed parliamentary powers or a light railway order. The name has only reflected light nature of the railway. Many miniature railways are named in this way.
Railways authorised under the act, but not built
- North Holderness Light Railway (1897)[4]
- Headcorn and Maidstone Junction Light Railway (1906).
- Southern Heights Light Railway (1929)
References
- ^ Light Railways Act 1896, section 29
- ^ The Light Railways Act 1896, section 27
- ^ The Act came into force on the date on which it received royal assent because no other date was specified: Acts of Parliament (Commencement) Act 1793
- ^ Bosley, Peter (1990). Light railways in England and Wales. Manchester: Manchester University Press. p. 182. ISBN 9780719017582.