1.

0)

Introduction
An Act to make new provisions in the law relating to railways and for other matters

connected. This Act may be cited as the Railways Act 1991 and shall apply to all railways in
Malaysia. This Act shall come into force on such date as the Minister may, by notification in
the Gazette, appoint and the Minister may appoint different dates for the coming into force of
a different provisions of this Act; or all or different provision .Railway means any kind of
railway for the public carriage of passengers or goods or both, or any portion thereof, and
includes all rails, beams, cables, sidings, or branches worked over for the purposes of, or in
connection with, a railway all rolling-stock used for the purposes of traffic; and in so far as
the context allows, a railway under construction by or for any railway company.
No railway shall be constructed within Malaysia without the approval of the Minister.
Railways 15 (2) Any person intending to construct a railway within Malaysia shall make an
application to and deposit with the Minister a railway scheme which shall contain the
following information. For This assignment our groups focus on PartVIII Accident And Part
IXOffences And Penalties In Laws Of Malaysia Act 463Railways Act 1991.

PART VIII
2.0)

ACCIDENTS

A) Notice of accident to be given

Section 45
(1) Whenever an accident occurs upon a railway
(a) the railway officer in charge of a station nearest to the place at which the accident
occurs shall, without unnecessary delay but in any case not later than twenty-four
hours after the occurrence of the accident, give notice of the accident in writing or
by any form of telecommunication to the officer in charge of the nearest police
station; and
(b) the railway company shall, without unnecessary delay but in any case not later
than twenty-four hours after the occurrence of the accident, send written notice of
the accident to the Director General.
(2) The notice shall contain a brief statement of the nature of the accident and of the extent of
the injuries or damage caused.
(3)
B) Inquiry
Section 46
(1) As soon as possible after the occurrence of an accident, the railway company shall
cause an inquiry to be made by a committee of railway officials to investigate the
cause of the accident but in cases where there is no reasonable doubt as to the cause of
the accident or the railway company accepts all responsibility, it shall not be necessary
to hold such inquiry.
(2) The railway company shall submit to the Director General a report on the accident and
such report shall state what action the company proposes to take with regard to the
officials responsible for the accident or for the revision of the rules or system of
working and, if an inquiry has been held under subsection (1), a report on the inquiry.
(3) The Director General may, if he is not satisfied with the report submitted to him under
subsection (2), and with the approval of the Minister, form a committee of
investigation to inquire into the cause of the accident.
(4) For the purposes of such inquiry, the committee of investigation may summon any
person to attend any meeting of the said committee to give evidence on oath or
produce any document or other thing in his possession and to examine him as a

witness or require him to produce any document or other thing in his possession
related to the matters which are the subject matter of such inquiry.
(5) Any person who, under subsection (4)
(a) having been summoned to attend any such inquiry, failsto do so;
(b) offers any act of disrespect or any insult or threat to the committee or any
member thereof during an inquiry; or
(c) having been required by the committee to give evidence on oath or to produce
a document or other thing, refuses to do so or gives false evidence or produces
a document or any other thing which he knows to be false, shall be guilty of an
offence and shall on conviction be liable to a fine not exceeding three thousand
ringgit or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year or to both.
(6) The committee of investigation shall, on completion of the inquiry, submit its report to
the Director General and such report shall state the opinion of the committee as to the
cause of theaccident and the full particulars of the case.
C) Minister may order inquiry
Section 47
(1) The Minister may order that an inquiry into the cause of any accident upon a railway be
made by any person designated in such order.
(2) Any person so appointed shall have and may exercise, for the purposes of such inquiry,
all the statutory and other powers as are for the time being vested in and exercisable by a
magistrate for summoning and enforcing the attendance of witnesses, foradministering
oaths or affirmations to such witnesses and for compelling such witnesses to answer all
reasonable and proper question related to the matters which are the subject of
suchinquiry.
(3) The person holding such inquiry shall submit to the Minister a copy of the proceedings
and report his opinion as to the cause of the accident together with full particulars of the
case.

D) Meaning of accident
Section 48
For the purpose of sections 45, 46 and 47, accident means an accident attended by loss of
human life or grievous hurt to any passenger upon any train or to any person engaged in the

working of the railway or by serious damage to property or an accident of such a description

as is usually attended by such loss, hurt or damage.
E) Power to make regulations relating to notices of accident, etc.
Section 49
The Director General may, with the approval of the Minister, make regulations relating to
(a) the forms of the notices mentioned in section 45, and the particulars of the accident which
those notices are to contain;
(b) the class of accidents in respect of which notice is to be sent by any form of
telecommunication immediately after the accident has occurred;
(c) the duties of railway officials or police officers on the occurrence of an accident; and
(d) the procedures of any inquiry into an accident.
F)Submission of return of accidents
Section 50
Every railway company shall send to the Director General a return of accidents occurring
upon its railway, whether attended with personal injury or not, in such form and manner and
at such intervals or time as the Director General directs.

G) Penalty for failure to comply with section 45

Section 51
(1) Any railway company which fails to give notice of an accident as is required by section
45 shall pay to the Government a sum of one hundred ringgit for every day during which
the default continues.
(2) Any railway official in charge of a station who omits to give such notice of an accident as
is required by section 45 shall be guilty of an offence and shall on conviction be liable to
a fine notexceeding five hundred ringgit or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one
month or to both.
H) Penalty for failure to comply with section 50
Section 52

Any railway company which fails to comply with section 50 shall pay to the Government a
sum of fifty ringgit for every day during which the default continues after the fourteenth day
from the date prescribed for the submission of the returns.
I) Compulsory medical examination of persons injured in railway accident
Section 53
Whenever any person injured by an accident on a railway claims compensation on account of
the injury, any court having jurisdiction over such matter may order that the person injured be
examined by a duly qualified medical practitioner who is not a witness on either side, and
may make such order with respect to the costs of the examination as it thinks fit.

3.0)

Case of Fact :

Case name:
Court:
Citation; Date:

British Columbia Electric Railway Co. Ltd. v. Loach

Canadian case
1916 1 A.C. 7193
PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Trial court:
Plaintiff:
Defendant:

Appeal court (for appeal cases only):

Loach - administrator of Sands Appellant:
British Columbia Electric
estate
Railway Co.
British Columbia Electric
Respondent: Loach - administrator of Sands
Railway Co.
estate

Facts of the case:

Benjamin Sands, who was run down at a level crossing by a car of the appellant railway
company and was killed. One Hall took Sands with him in a cart, and they drove together on
the level crossing and neither heard nor saw the approaching car till they were close to the
rails and the car was nearly on them. There was plenty of light, and there was no other traffic
about. The verdict, though rather curiously expresses, clearly finds Sands guilty of negligence
in not looking to see that the road was clear Hall, who escaped, said that they went right
on to the track, when he heard Sands, who was sitting on his left, say Oh, and looking up
saw the car about 50 yards off. He says he could then do nothing, and with a loaded wagon
[sic] and horses going two to three miles an hour he probably could not. It does not seem to
have been suggested that Sands could have done any good by trying to jump off the cart and
clear the rails. The car knocked cart, horses, and men over, and ran some distance beyond the
5

crossing before it could be stopped. It approached the crossing at from thirty-five to forty-five
miles an hour. The driver saw horses as they came into view from behind a shed at the
crossing of the road and the railway, when they would be 10ft. or 12 ft. from the nearest rail,
and he at once applied his brake. He was then 400 ft. from the crossing. If the brake had been
in good order it should have stopped the car in 300 Ft.
Remedy sought:
Court opinion (including key issues and arguments):
Apart from the fact that the car did not stop in time, but overran the crossing, there was
evidence for the jury that the brake was defective and inefficient and that the car had come out
in the morning with the brake in that condition. The jury found that the car was approaching
at an excessive speed and should have been brought under complete control, and although
they gave their reason for saying so the presence of possible passengers at the station by the
crossing, and not the possibility of vehicles being on the road, there can be no mistake in the
matter and their finding stands
Clearly if the deceased had not got on to the lie he would have suffered no harm, in spite
of the excessive speed the defective brake, and if he had kept his eyes about him he would
have perceived the approach of the car, and would have kept out of mischief. If the matter
stopped there, his administrators action must have failed, for he would certainly have been
guilty of contributory negligence. He would have owed his death to his own fault and whether
his negligence was the sole cause or the cause jointly with the railway companys negligence
would not have mattered If the jury accepted the facts above stated, as certainly they well
might do, there was no further negligence on the part of Sands after he looked up and saw the
car, and there was then nothing that he could do. There he was in a position of extreme peril
and by his own fault, but after that he was guilty of no fresh fault. The driver of the car,
however, had seen the horses some perceptible time earlier, had duly applied his brakes, and if
they had been effective, he could, as the jury found, have pulled up in time. Indeed, he would
have had 100 ft. to spare. ... What actually killed Sands was the negligence of the railway
company, and not his own, though it was a close thing.
Their Lordships are of opinion that, on the facts of the present case, the above observations
apply and are correct. Were it otherwise the defendant company would be in a better position,
when they had supplied a bad brake but a good motorman, than when the motorman was
careless but the brake efficient. If the superintendent engineer sent out the car in the morning
with a defective brake, which on seeing Sands, the motorman strove to apply, they would not
6

be liable, but if the motorman failed to apply the brake, which , if applied, would have averted
the accident, they would be liable
In the present case their Lordships are clearly of opinion that, under proper direction, it was
for the jury to find the facts and to determine the responsibility, and that upon the answers
which they returned, reasonably construed, the responsibility for the accident was upon the
appellants solely, because, whether Sands got in the way of the car with or without negligence
on his part, the appellants could and ought to have avoided the consequences of that
negligence, and failed to do so, not by any combination of negligence on the part of Sands
with their own, but solely by the negligence of their servants in sending out the car with a
brake whose inefficiency operated to cause the collision at the last moment, and in running
the car at an excessive speed, which required a perfectly efficient brake to arrest it.
Disposition of case:
This is an appeal from a judgment of the Court of Appeal of British Columbia in favour of
the Administrator of the Estate of Benjamin Sands. Their Lordships will accordingly humbly
advise His Majesty that the appeal should be dismissed with costs.
3.1)

Pokora v. Wabash Ry. Co

a) Brief Fact Summary.

Plaintiff was killed while attempting to cross Wabash Ry. Co.s (Defendants) four railroad
tracks. Plaintiff did not get out of his vehicle to obtain a better view as required by the opinion
in Baltimore & Ohio R.R. v. Goodman.
b) Synopsis of Rule of Law
To get out of a vehicle is uncommon precaution, as everyday experience informs us. The
actions of a plaintiff depend on the situation and the circumstances, and it is up to the jury to
decide whether a particular course of action was reasonable.
c) Facts
Defendant had four railroad tracks. Plaintiff, in his vehicle, attempted to cross the tracks.
Plaintiff could not see the main track because a boxcar on the first track obstructed his view.
Plaintiff stopped and listened for a bell or whistle but did not hear either. Plaintiff did not get
out of his vehicle to obtain a better view as the opinion in Baltimore & Ohio R.R. v. Goodman

seemed to require. The trial court directed a verdict for Defendant on its finding that Plaintiff
had been contributory negligent. Defendant appealed.
d) Issue.
Is there a duty for Plaintiff to stop, exit the vehicle, look and listen before crossing a railroad
track?
e) Held.
No. Judgment reversed.
1) Courts declare standards of prudent conduct at times, but they are taken over by the facts of
life. To get out of a vehicle is an uncommon precaution, as everyday experience informs us.
Besides being uncommon it is very futile and sometimes dangerous. A train traveling at a
speed of thirty miles per hour will cover a quarter of a mile in 30 seconds. Instead of helping
himself by getting out, Plaintiff might do better to press forward. A train at rest at a station
could be moving in the time it takes Plaintiff to return to his vehicle.
2) Defendant did not show whether there was a locomotive at the forward end, or whether the
cars were so few that a locomotive could be seen. If Plaintiff was to leave his vehicle near the
curb, there was even stronger reason to believe that the space covered in going back and forth
would make his observations worthless.
3) To get out of the train to look and listen for oncoming trains is not natural behavior in its
customary form, but a rule artificially developed and imposed. Because there is no guide of
customary conduct, the safeguards and judgment of Plaintiff is for the jury to decide and not
the judge.
f) Discussion
The jury gets to decide whether or not Plaintiff is required to get out of his vehicle and look
for trains. There is no standard requiring that Plaintiff always get out and look and listen for a
train each time he comes upon a track, because that is uncommon conduct.

PART IX
8

4.0)

OFFENCES AND PENALTIES

A) Intoxication or breach of duty

Section 54
Any railway official who
(a) is in a state of intoxication while discharging any duty;or
(b) refuses or neglects to perform his duty or performs the same in an improper
manner,shall, if the duty is such that the intoxication or refusal, neglect or improper
performance of the duty, as the case may be, is likely to endanger the safety of any
person or goods carried upon the railway, be guilty of an offence and shall on
conviction be liable to a fine not exceeding three thousand ringgit or to imprisonment
for a term not exceeding one year or to both.
B) Unlawfully bringing dangerous or offensive goods upon railway
Section 55
If, in contravention of section 42, any person takes or causes to be taken or deposited any
dangerous or offensive goods upon a railway, or tenders or delivers or deposits any such
goods for transport upon a railway, such person shall be guilty of an offenceand shall on
conviction be liable to a fine not exceeding five thousand ringgit or to imprisonment for a
term not exceeding three years or to both.
C) Entering or leaving railway coach, etc., while coach in motion, or travelling
irregularly
Section 56
Any passenger who gets into or upon, or attempts to get into or upon, or quits or attempts to
quit any railway coach while such coach is in motion, or who travels or attempts to travel on
or in any part of a coach not intended for the use of passengers, shall be guilty of an offence
and shall on conviction be liable to a fine not exceeding one thousand ringgit for each
offence.

D) Entering or leaving railway coach irregularly

9

Section 57
Any person who
(a) at any time enters or leaves or attempts to enter or leave any railway coach otherwise
than by the door provided for the purpose on the side of the coach adjacent to the
platform or other similar place appointed by the railway company as a place for
persons to enter or leave a railway coach; or
(b) opens any outer door of any such coach while it is in motion, shall be guilty of an
offence and shall on conviction be liable to a fine not exceeding one thousand
ringgit.
E) Resisting entry, and entering and refusing to leave full train
Section 58
Any passenger who
(a) resists the lawful entry of another passenger into a railwaycoach or portion of a
railway coach not reserved by the railway company for the use of the passenger
resisting; Railways 41
(b) after having been refused admission onto a train by a railway official, on account of
the train being full, nevertheless persists in entering or attempting to enter the train; or
(c) having gone on board a train at any place and having been requested by a railway
official, on account of the train being full, to leave the train before it has quitted that
place, does not comply with that request, shall be guilty of an offence and shall on
conviction be liable to a fine not exceeding one thousand ringgit and, in addition, may
be removed from the train by any railway official.
F) Penalty for disorderly or offensive behaviour or nuisance
Section 59.
Any person who
(a) behaves in a disorderly or offensive manner or commitsany nuisance on a railway
coach or upon any railway premises; or
(b) assaults, hinders or obstructs a railway official in the execution of his duties,
(a) shall be guilty of an offence and shall on conviction be liable to a fine not exceeding
one thousand ringgit or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months or to
both and in addition, the offender may be removed by any railway official from any
such coach or railway premises and shall, if he is a passenger, forfeit his fare.

10

G) Penalty for improper use of emergency signal apparatus

Section 60
Any person who makes improper use of the emergency signal apparatus provided by a
railway company in any coach or on any train for the use of passengers to stop a train in case
of emergency shall be guilty of an offence and shall on conviction be liable to a fine not
exceeding one thousand ringgit or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months or
to both.
H) Penalty for removing, etc., stakes, pegs or other marks
Section 61
Any person who removes, defaces or in any way interferes with any stakes, pegs or other
marks placed by or for the purposes of a railway company along a railway track or contiguous
there to shall be guilty of an offence and shall on conviction be liable to a fine not exceeding
one thousand ringgit or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months or to both.
I) Penalty for trespass
Section 62
Any person who trespasses upon a railway or upon any railway premises shall be guilty of an
offence and shall on conviction be liable to a fine not exceeding five hundred ringgit and, if
any such person refuses to leave the railway or railway premises on being requested to do so
by any railway official, he shall be guilty of an offence and shall on conviction be liable to a
fine not exceeding one thousand ringgit, and may be immediately removed therefrom.
J) Penalty for driving any vehicle or animal upon or across a railway
Section 63
Any person who wilfully rides, leads, or drives upon or across a railway track any vehicle or
animal, except when directly crossing the railway track at any road or place appointed for that
purpose at a time at which he may lawfully do so, shall be guilty of an offence and shall on
conviction be liable to a fine not exceeding five hundred ringgit for each offence.

K)Penalty for damage, whether wilful or negligent

Section 64
11

(1) Any person who

(a) wilfully or negligently damages any railway or any property belonging to a railway
company;
(b) removes sand, stone, earth or any other matter or thing from banks, bridges, culverts,
retaining walls or the railway track belonging to a railway company; or
(c) fells timber in a manner likely to endanger the safety of passing trains or of any
person in or upon such trains, or to cause damage to the railway track, shall be guilty
of an offence and shall on conviction be liable to a fine not exceeding five thousand
ringgit or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years or to both.
(2) Any person who ties up the wires of wire fencing, breaks down or destroys any fencing or
hedges, or does or causes to be done any act that damages or is likely to damage any fence or
hedge appertaining to a railway shall be guilty of an offence and shall on conviction be liable
to a fine not exceeding one thousandringgit or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three
months or to both.
(3) Any person who, wilfully or negligently, diverts any stream or drain or, by any means,
causes water to flow on to a railway or, causes damage to a railway in any manner by water,
shall be guilty of an offence and shall on conviction be liable to a fine not exceeding five
thousand ringgit or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years or to both.
(4) Any person who, having any contract for the supply to a railway company of bricks,
ballast, timber, fuel, or any other material, or being employed in connection with the supply to
the railway company of such material, negligently places or stacks the said material in an
unsafe or careless manner, or at less than the prescribed distance from the rails, so that the
safety of passing trains or of any person in or upon such trains is endangered shall be guilty of
an offence and shall on conviction be liable to a finenot exceeding two thousand ringgit or to
imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to both.

L) Opening or not properly shutting gates

Section 65
If
12

(a) any person opens or attempts to open any gate set up on either side of any railway
track across a road, or passesor attempts to pass, or drives or takes or attempts to drive
or take, any vehicle, animal or other thing across the railway tracks; or (b) in the
absence of a gate-keeper, any person omits to shut and fasten and, where necessary, to
lock such a gate as aforesaid as soon as he and any vehicle, animal or other thing
under his charge has passed through the gate, he shall be guilty of an offence and shall
on conviction be liable to a fine not exceeding one thousand ringgit or to
imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months or to both.
M) Maliciously obstructing or attempting to obstruct a railway
Section 66
If any person unlawfully
(a) puts, throws or causes to fall against, upon or across a railway any wood, stone or
other matter or thing;
(b) takes up, removes, loosens, or displaces any rail, sleeper or other matter or thing
appertaining to a railway;
(c) turns, moves, unlocks or diverts any railway points or other machinery appertaining to
a railway;
(d) moves any part of the rolling-stock on a railway track or leaves the same on any part
of a railway track;
(e) makes, shows, hides or removes any signal or light upon or near a railway; or
(f) does or causes to be done or attempts to do any other act or thing in relation to a
railway, with intent, or with the knowledge that he is likely, to obstruct the working of
the railway, or to endanger the safety of any person travelling or being upon the
railway, he shall be guilty of an offence and shall on conviction be liable to a fine not
exceeding fifty thousand ringgit or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding twenty
years.

N) Maliciously hurting or attempting to hurt persons travelling by train

Section 67
If any person unlawfully throws or causes to fall or strike at, against, into, or upon any
rolling-stock forming part of a train any wood, stone or other matter or thing with intent, or
with the knowledge that he is likely, to endanger the safety of any person being in or upon
13

such rolling-stock or in or upon any other rollingstock forming part of the same train, he shall
be guilty of an offence and shall on conviction be liable to a fine not exceeding twenty-five
thousand ringgit or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding ten years or to both.

0) Penalty for causing train to stop

Section 68
If any person not being a railway official, without reasonable excuse, by making any gesture
or exhibiting any signal or otherwise,causes a moving train to be brought to a standstill, he
shall be guilty of an offence and shall on conviction be liable to a fine not
exceeding one thousand ringgit or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months or
to both.
P) Penalty for wilful act or omission endangering passenger
Section 69
Whoever wilfully does any act, or wilfully omits to do what he is legally bound to do,
intending by such act or omission to cause or knowing that he is thereby likely to cause the
safety of any person travelling or being upon a railway to be endangered, shall be guilty of an
offence and shall on conviction be liable to a fine not exceeding ten thousand ringgit or to
imprisonment for a term not exceeding seven years or to both.
Q) Penalty for negligent act
Section 70
Any person who rashly or negligently, and without lawful excuse, does any act which is likely
to endanger his own safety or that of any person travelling or being upon a railway, shall be
guilty of an offence and shall on conviction be liable to a fine not exceeding two thousand
ringgit or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to both.

R) Making false statements, etc.

Section 71
14

Any person who, in furnishing any information or makingany application under or for the
purposes of any provision of this Act, makes any statement which he knows to be false in
amaterial particular, or recklessly makes any statement which is false in a material particular,
shall be guilty of an offence and shall on conviction be liable to a fine not exceeding thirty
thousand ringgit.

S) Penalty for breach of Act or regulations for which no special penalty is provided
Section 72
Any person who contravenes or fails to comply with any of the provisions of this Act or of
any regulations made thereunder shall be guilty of an offence and shall, if no other penalty is
provided, be liable to a fine not exceeding one thousand ringgit or to imprisonment for a term
not exceeding three months or to both.
T) Legal duties of railway officials
Section 73
Every railway official shall be legally bound to do everything necessary for or conducive to
the safety of the public, and every such official shall be legally prohibited from doing any act
which is likely to cause danger.
U) Apprehension of offenders
Section 74
Any person found committing or attempting to commit an offence against this Act or any
regulations made thereunder may be arrested, without warrant, by any railway official or by
any police officer or by any other person whom such official or police officer may call to his
aid, and every person so arrested shall, with all convenient despatch, be taken to the nearest
police station to be dealt with according to law: Provided that a railway official shall not
effect any such arrest outside the railway premises.

V) Recovery of fares, charges or damages

Section 75
15

(1) When any person is convicted before a court of criminal jurisdiction for an offence
against any of the provisions of this Act or any regulations made thereunder, the court
may, in addition toimposing any penalty under this Act, fix or assess the amount ofany
fare, charge, damages, expenses or sum of money whatsoever which may have become
payable by such person to the railway company, and order such amount to be paid by
such person to therailway company.
(2) Nothing in subsection (1) shall prevent the recovery of any fare, charge, damages,
expenses or other sum of money whatsoever which may have become payable by any
person to a railway company by way of a civil claim before a court of civil jurisdiction.
W) Offence by bodies corporate
Section 76
(1) Where a body corporate is guilty of an offence under this Act and that offence is
proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable
to any neglect on the part of, any director, manager, secretary or other similar officer
of the body corporate or any person who was purporting to act in any such capacity,
he, as well as the body corporate, shall be guilty of that offence and shall be liable to
be proceeded against andpunished accordingly.
(2) Where the affairs of a body corporate are managed by its members, subsection (1)
shall apply in relation to the acts and defaults of a member in connection with his
functions of management as if he were a director of the body corporate.
X) Compounding of offences
Section 77
(1) The Director General or any officer authorized by him may compound any such
offence against this Act or any regulations made thereunder as may be prescribed as an
offence which may be compounded by the Director General or any officer authorized
by him by collecting from any person reasonably suspected of having committed the
same a sum of money not exceeding three hundred ringgit.
(2) The Director General may, with the approval of the Minister, make regulations to
prescribe the offences which may be compounded and the method and procedures
therefor.
Y) Prosecution
Section 78
16

It shall be competent for the Director General or any officer authorized by him to conduct a
prosecution for any offence under this Act or any regulations made thereunder before any
court.

4.1)

Case fact

Parker v South Eastern Railway [1877]

Parker v South Eastern Railway 2 CPD 416 is a famous Englishcontract law case on exclusion
clauses where the court held that an individual cannot escape a contractual term by failing to
read the contract but that a party wanting to rely on an exclusion clause must take reasonable
steps to bring it to the attention of the customer.
Facts
Mr Parker left a bag in the cloakroom of Charing Cross railway station, run by the South
Eastern Railway Company. On depositing his bag and paying two pence he received a ticket.
On the front it said "see back". On its back, it stated that the railway was excluded from
liability for items worth 10 or more. Mr Parker failed to read the clause as he thought the
ticket was only a receipt of payment. However, he admitted that he knew the ticket contained
writing. Mr Parker's bag, which was worth more than 10, was lost. He sued the company.
The question of law put to the court was whether the clause applied to Mr Parker. At trial the
jury found for Mr Parker as it was reasonable for him not to read the ticket.

Judgment
Divisional CourtLord Coleridge CJ, Brett J and Lindley J decided in favour of Mr Parker,
upholding the jury award. Lindley J remarked,

17

Court of Appeal
The majority of the Court of Appeal held there should be a retrial. They said that if Mr Parker
knew of the conditions he would be bound. If he did not know, he would be bound if he was
given the ticket in such a way as amounted to "reasonable.

5.0

CONCLUSION

Railway Act 1991, describes more on the guidelines in the railway industry, it is to
maintain the safety and rights of consumers involved. This act also provides protection for the
transport of goods by rail, not only for goods but also for the passengers that used the rail
18

transport. This act also as the rules and regulation in a certain country to control some of the
major problem in the railway industry. Based on the act used are on the Accidents and the
Offences And Penalties shows for whom this act will effect and for which parties that should
take responsible if incident happen. The accident are told more on the loss, hurt or damage,
and the offence and penalties, more focus on the improper use of emergency signal, causing
train to stop, for negligent act, compounding of offences and lots more.
This act give full protection towards the user so that there will be no dangerous
problem occurs and if it does, they will get punishment towards the action that the involved
parties have done. With the enforcement of this act, railway industry will be more secure for
future users and for long term period.

Refereces
Laws Of Malaysia Act 463. Railways Act 1991. Published ByThe Commissioner Of Law
Revision, MalaysiaUnder The Authority Of The Revision Of Laws Act 1968.
In Collaboration WithPercetakan Nasional Malaysia Bhd2006

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Casebrief. Pokora v. Wabash Ry. Co. Retrieved 28 March 2015 from

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