Cross-Border Railways Act 2018

Cross-Border Railways Act 2018 2020 REVISED EDITION This revised edition incorporates all amendments up to and including 1 December 2021 and comes into operation on 31 December 2021 An Act to provide for the construction, maintenance, operation and regulation of cross‑border railways between Singapore and Malaysia in accordance with bilateral railway agreements, and to make related and consequential amendments to certain other Acts. [14 September 2020: Parts 1, 2, 3, sections 21 to 24, 26, 27, 28, 65, 66, 67, 73 to 76, 78(1)(a), (b), (e), (f) and (g), 78(2), (3) and (4), 79 and 80 ] PART 1 PRELIMINARY Short title and commencement 1.—(1) This Act is the Cross-Border Railways Act 2018. (2) Sections 25 and 29, Parts 6 to 9 and sections 68 to 72, 77 and 78(c) come into operation on a date that the Minister appoints by notification in the Gazette. Interpretation 2. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires — “act of unlawful interference” means the doing or attempting to do anything to jeopardise the safety of a cross‑border railway, and includes any of the following: (a) unlawful taking control of a cross‑border train by force, or threat of force, or any other form of intimidation or by any trick or false pretence; (b) destroying a cross‑border train in service; (c) hostage-taking on board a cross‑border train, or at a train station of a cross‑border railway; (d) forcible intrusion on board a cross‑border train, at a train station of a cross‑border railway or on the premises of a concessionaire or licensee, or a subcontractor of a concessionaire or licensee, that puts the safety of the cross‑border train, or any person on board or outside the cross‑border train, at risk; (e) introducing on board a cross‑border train, or at a train station of a cross‑border railway, a weapon, hazardous device or any material intended for criminal purposes; (f) use of a cross‑border train in service or other railway asset for the purpose of causing death, serious bodily injury or serious damage to property or the environment; (g) communication of false or misleading information for the purposes of putting the safety of a cross‑border train, or of passengers or crew or the general public at a train station of a cross‑border railway or on the premises of a licensee, at risk; “auxiliary police officer” means a person appointed as such under Part 9 of the Police Force Act 2004; “bilateral committee”, in relation to a bilateral railway agreement, means the committee of individuals established jointly by the Government of the Republic of Singapore and the Government of Malaysia under the bilateral railway agreement for the purpose of coordinating the implementation of that agreement; “bilateral railway agreement” means — (a) the High Speed Rail Bilateral Agreement; or (b) any other agreement, between the Government of the Republic of Singapore and the Government of Malaysia only, signed after 3 October 2017 and providing for or about any other railway starting outside but ending in Singapore, a redacted copy of which the Minister makes available for inspection at a public office prescribed; “code of practice” means a code of practice issued or approved under section 36, and includes any such code of practice as amended from time to time under that section; “concession agreement” means an agreement entered into between the Government and a person (called in this Act the concessionaire) in return for the undertaking of such obligations by the person as may be specified in the agreement with respect to the design, construction, maintenance, operation or improvement of a cross‑border railway, and includes a concession agreement as varied or supplemented from time to time; “concessionaire” means the person who is a party to the concession agreement, and includes the person for the time being entitled to exercise those rights because of an assignment or transfer of the agreement to that person; “construction”, in relation to railway infrastructure, includes — (a) the reconstruction or realignment of the railway infrastructure; and (b) permanently improving the railway infrastructure or otherwise bringing it to a higher standard, and any associated design, investigative and engineering studies, but does not include the maintenance and management of the railway infrastructure; “corresponding rail authority”, in relation to Malaysia, means a person or body that the Minister designates as such, on being satisfied that the person or body is authorised under the law of Malaysia to discharge functions similar to the LTA’s under this Act; “cross-border railway” means a railway which — (a) has a railway network with a terminus in Singapore and runs to any part of peninsular Malaysia; and (b) is constructed under this Act; “cross-border railway security agency” means a person or body of persons designated under section 58 to be the cross‑border railway security agency for the purposes of this Act; “cross-border train” means a train used for or in connection with providing a cross‑border train service; “cross-border train service” means a passenger train service provided using a cross‑border railway, for journeys that are partly in Singapore; “cross-border train service licence” means a licence granted under section 31 authorising the licensee to provide a cross‑border train service on a cross‑border railway specified in the licence; “High Speed Rail Bilateral Agreement” means the agreement between the Government of the Republic of Singapore and the Government of Malaysia, dated 13 December 2016, concerning the Kuala Lumpur — Singapore High Speed Rail, a redacted copy of which the Minister makes available for inspection at a public office prescribed; “improve”, in relation to any railway infrastructure or railway asset, includes renewing the railway infrastructure or railway asset; “independent safety auditor” means an individual appointed under section 49; “land” has the meaning given by the Land Titles Act 1993; “licence” means — (a) a railway assets operating licence; or (b) a cross-border train service licence; “licensee” means the holder of a licence but excludes such a holder when the licence is suspended; “LTA” means the Land Transport Authority of Singapore established under the Land Transport Authority of Singapore Act 1995; “maintenance” includes the prevention, detection and rectification of any fault; “management”, in relation to any railway asset, means to acquire, design, construct, install, operate, maintain in proper condition and improve the railway asset; “modification” and “modify”, in relation to the conditions of a licence, include deleting or varying and substituting a condition, and adding a condition; “network services”, in relation to a railway, means — (a) the construction, maintenance, realignment and renewal of tracks of the railway; (b) the installation, operation, maintenance and renewal of a railway signalling system, railway communications system and railway control system; (c) the installation, operation, maintenance and renewal of operation control centres; (d) the installation, operation, maintenance and renewal of electrical conductor rails or overhead lines, of any support for electrical conductor rails or overhead lines, and of any electrical substation (including those for traction power or power connections) used or to be used in connection with those rails or lines, and the provision of electrical power by those means; (e) the provision and operation of services for the recovery or repair of trains or other rolling stock in connection with any accident on, or malfunction of, the railway network; (f) the operation of a train being used on a railway network for any purpose comprised in the operation of that network, including for a purpose preparatory or incidental to, or consequential on, using such a train; (g) the provision and operation of services for keeping the track free from, or serviceable despite, obstruction (whether by water, fallen leaves or any other natural or man‑made obstacle) or for removing any such obstruction; (h) the provision, operation, maintenance and renewal of any plan, equipment or machinery used in carrying out any activity specified in paragraphs (a) to (g); (i) the exercise of day-to-day control over train movements over or along any track comprised in the railway network, including the preparation of a timetable for purposes of such control; and (j) for a particular licensee, any other service which consists of, or is comprised in, the provision or operation of the railway network (or of any track or other installations comprised in that network), and which is specified in the licensee’s licence; “open network services” means network services provided to a train service operator for or in connection with a cross‑border train service provided by that operator; “operation of a railway network” does not include operating a train on the network in the course of providing a passenger train service; “passenger train service” means a service consisting of the carriage of passengers provided to the public, for a fare, by trains operated on a railway; “rail safety inspector” means an individual who is appointed under section 50 as a rail safety inspector; “railway” means a network or system of fixed horizontal rails, tracks, grooves or other guide‑ways on, under or above the ground along which a train moves or runs, and includes — (a) all railway assets built, installed or used for the operation of the railway; and (b) all railway infrastructure constructed or intended to be constructed for any railway and any extension of the railway; “railway area” means the land delineated as such in plans and maps prepared, amended or replaced under section 5(1) or (5); “railway asset”, for any cross‑border railway, means any of the following within Singapore that is used or intended to be used for or in connection with the cross‑border railway: (a) any train and rolling stock; (b) train tracks; (c) railway signalling equipment; (d) railway communications equipment; (e) power equipment; (f) any other item or property which is part of the network of the cross‑border railway and is prescribed as a railway asset for that cross‑border railway; “railway assets contract” has the meaning given by section 22; “railway assets operating licence” means a licence granted under section 31 authorising the licensee to manage railway assets of a cross‑border railway specified in the licence; “railway infrastructure”, in relation to a cross‑border railway, means any of the following buildings or structures within Singapore that is used or intended to be used for the cross‑border railway, but not including any railway asset in or on the building or structure: (a) a train station; (b) a railway tunnel; (c) a viaduct; (d) a bridge; (e) a railway yard; (f) a maintenance facility for trains and maintenance or engineering vehicles used for or in connection with the railway; (g) any other building or structure prescribed as railway infrastructure for that cross‑border railway; “railway network” means — (a) any railway line, or combination of railway lines; and (b) any installation associated with any track comprised in that line or those lines, together constituting a system of tracks and other installations which is used solely for and in connection with the support, guidance and operation of trains; “rolling stock” includes motors, coaches, wagons, locomotives, trucks, trolleys, maintenance or engineering vehicles, carriages of any kind and other kinds of engines used on a railway; “security directive” means a security directive given by the cross‑border railway security agency under section 59; “ticket” means any form of authorisation, issued for the carriage of any passenger on a cross‑border train service; “train” means a carriage, tram, car or other vehicle for the carriage of passengers on a railway; “train service operator” means a person providing services for and in connection with the carriage of passengers by train, including the carriage of luggage, parcels or mail on trains which at the time are available, and primarily intended for use by passengers; “train station” means a building designed, equipped or set apart with facilities for — (a) the commencement or termination of a passenger train service; (b) the purchase of tickets by intending train passengers; (c) the boarding and alighting of train passengers and other matters incidental to the carriage of passengers by train; and (d) the conduct of border control functions (if any) in connection with train passengers boarding or alighting. Purpose of Act 3. The purpose of this Act is to provide for the construction, maintenance, operation and regulation of a cross‑border railway so as to give effect to any bilateral railway agreement for the cross‑border railway.