Glos Warks Byelaws

I've noticed on the GWSR website that they have adopted a lot of new Byelaws which relate specifically to the line at http://www.gwsr.com/assets/pdf/GWSR-Bye ... 0801-S.pdf. I know that heritage railways have their own books of rules and regs for staff but hadn't realised that they have their own byelaws as well.

Do many railways around the country have a similar thing?

I'd have assumed that a lot of the things covered by the GWSR's byelaws would already have been covered by the existing laws of the land that cover us all wherever we are, such as vandalism, being drunk & disorderly, offensive & threatening behaviour etc.

Mind you, I suppose a lot of things in the GWSR's own byelaws, such as joining the end of a queue when asked to do so and the proper use of train doors wouldn't be covered by any existing legislation, that's more down to what used to be called common sense and good manners.

No more singing on the line I'm afraid - presumably caterwauling gricers are a big problem in the Cheltenham area?!? 8-[

Cheers!

Andrew

 

Oh Dear, has Toddington had a visit from the Health & safety Nazi's or something ?, most of that is common sense and already know by staff and volunteers, if that list is intended for all im afraid your probably living in cloud cuckoo land if you think joe public wants to take 10 mins out to read it, they want a day out on a train, not to be hit with the kind of paperwork nonsense they are bombarded with during the week.

I guessing there's a reason behing it, but on the face of it, it seems like overkill and plaaying into the Nimby's hands.

 

Personally, David, I thought it was some kind of elaborate end-of-season joke on the GWSR website when I first saw it, especially when it talks about automatic ticket barriers, the use of lifts, automatic closing doors on trains and so on - it looks kind of kosher in parts but completely bonkers in other parts... perhaps it's all just a gag by someone with a warped sense of humour! Ah well, perhaps I should thank the folks at Toddington for providing me with a bit of chuckle!

Regards

Andrew

 

It's nothing new. I think you'll find that most of the larger Heritage Railways have By-laws. It's just that they don't publish them in this way. They're probably all very similar. There is a set of model by-laws available for Heritage Railways to use as a template. The G&WR have probably just introduced or updated theirs. It certainly isn't big brother or the H & S mafia, more like common sense.

 

I think you're probably quite right there Steve, these sorts of byelaws probably do exist on other heritage railways, it's not something I'd ever give any thought to before, being a law abiding citizen (ahem, well, by and large).

I had a look on the Dept of Transport website and the GWSR have indeed simply cut and pasted the list of byelaws from there and then submitted that to the Secretary of State for approval - hence the things in there that would apply to the National Network but not to the Glos Warks... presumably they're covering all possible angles in case the occasional numpty turns up and causes problems. Hopefully the 'mind how you go' brigade won't have taken over completely then.

Aaaaah... so it was for real after all, oh dear, perhaps I'd better apologise in advance to any persons from the GWSR for thinking it was a joke.... oops!

Cheers!

Andrew

 

Having had to deal with TWA Orders for a short while it is normal (if not maybe always the case) that a set of Bylaws come into force with the Order, or accompanied the Light Railway Order before TWA Orders existed. I believe the purpose is to ensrue that a railway has legal recourse to ensure the safe and convenient passage of its customers. To save time, money and expense there is a model set that requires little or no review before the Secretary of State signs to order.