| Short Title: | Regulation of Railways Act 1868[1] |
| Type: | Act |
| Parliament: | Parliament of the United Kingdom |
| Long Title: | An Act to amend the Law relating to Railways. |
| Citation: | 31 & 32 Vict. c. 119 |
| Territorial Extent: | United Kingdom |
| Royal Assent: | 31 July 1868 |
| Amendments: | Statute Law Revision Act 1875 |
| Status: | Amended |
| Original Text: | http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Vict/31-32/119 |
| Use New Uk-Leg: | yes |
The Regulation of Railways Act 1868 (31 & 32 Vict. c. 119) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It is one of the Railway Regulation Acts 1840 to 1893.
It was enacted following the first murder on the railways, that of Thomas Briggs by Franz Muller near Hackney in 1864.[2]
The Act made new provisions for:
Despite the legislation, it was not until 1899 that internal emergency wires came to be used on the majority of trains.[2]
The Act also made provision for the construction and working of a railway as a light railway, 'subject to such conditions and regulations as the Board of Trade may from time to time impose or make'. Section 28 of the Act laid down maximum permitted axle weights and specified that 'the regulations respecting the speed of trains shall not authorize a rate of speed exceeding at any time twenty-five miles an hour'.[4] The Light Railways Act 1896 subsequently introduced more comprehensive legislation governing light railways.