RAILWAY AND CANAL COMMISSION is the title given by the Railway and Canal Traffic Act, 1888, to a court of record, consisting of two appointed and three ex officio commissioners, to which the jurisdiction of the former railway commissioners was by that Act transferred. The two " appointed " commissioners are so called from their appointment by the Crown on the recommendation of the Board of Trade, it being necessary, however, that one of them should have experience in railway business. The ex officio commissioners are English, Scotch, and Irish judges. Three of the commissioners form a quorum, and a sitting is presided over by an ea' qfficio commissioner, whose opinion on law must prevail.
Jurisdiction.—The jurisdiction of the commissioners has relation, mainly, to the settlement of disputes between railway companies and the public in regard to the facilities and conditions of traffic. It now also extends, however, to certain duties formerly within the functions of the Board of Trade, particularly to the exercise of the powers conferred on the Board by the Railway Clauses Act, 1863, or by any special Act, with respect to the approval of working agreements between railway companies ; and to the powers and duties of the Board with respect to the exercise by railway companies of their powers in relation to steamships. But more pertinent to the business man is its jurisdiction in respect of disputes. This includes the following matters : (1) (a) Delay and partiality of companics.—It is the duty of railway and canal companies under section 2 of' the Railway and Canal Traffic Act, 1854, to afrord all reasonable facilities for the receiving and forwarding and delivering of traffic upon their systems, and for the return of carriages, trucks, boats, and other vehicles ; (b) they must not make or give any undue or unreasonable preference or advantage to or in favour of any particular person or company, or any particular description of traffic, in any respect whatsoever ; nor may they subject any particular person or company, or any particular description of traffic, to any undue or un reasonable prejudice or disadvantage in any respect whatsoever ; (c) Facilities for through trajic.—Every company which works its system as part of a
greater continuous system, or has a terminus, station, or wharf near a like place of another company, must afford all due and reasonable facilities for receiving and forwarding all the traffic arriving by one or the other, without any unreasonable delay, and without any such preference or advantage, or prejudice or disadvantage, as above mentioned, so long as no obstruction is caused to, or reasonable accommodation taken from the public using the whole continuous system. (2) Equality of treatnient by a railway company that works steamers in connection with its line is an obligation imposed by section 16 of the Regulation of Itailways Act, 1868 ; it must not decrease or increase its fares in respect of the steamship traffic according as the passenger has or has not travelled, or intends or does not intend to travel, upon its railway system. (3) Under the special Act of a company the latter may be under some obligation in respect of such matters as the provision of stations, roads, or other similar works for public accommodation, or private branch railways and private sidings. (4) The tolls and rates charged or sought by a railway company must be legal, it being immaterial in this connection whether there is an undue preference or not. (5) Rebate on sidings rates.— The determination of what, if any, is 'a reasonable and just allowance or rebate whenever merchandise is received or delivered by a railway company at a siding or branch railway not belonging to the company, and the company and the consignor or consignee disagree as to the allowance or rebate to be made from the rates charged on account of the company not providing station accommodation or performing terminal services.