THE JOURNAL OF U THE LONDON UNDERGROUND RAILWAY SOCIETY Issue No 153 Volume 13 No 9 September 1974 N RENAMING OF CHARING CROSS STATIOO Charing Cross Underground Station was renamed CHARING CROSS EMBANKMENT D on and fran Sunday 4th August 1974. By that day all the platform nameboards on all six platforms, including the small ones on the pillars on the District Line had been altered with plastic stickers over the blue bar - but E the small boards between the advertisements opposite the platforms on the Bakerloo Line had already been changed by Saturday. The suffix "Errbankment" appears in capital letters, but smaller than "Charing Cross", and R its purpose is stated as to familiarise passengers with the eventual name "Embankment" when the Trafalgar Square/ Strand station canplex is renamed "Charing Cross" when G the Fleet Line is opened. It seems that the names on the tube platform friezes, track plates, line diagrams, canopies outside the station and ticket machine blocks are not being altered for the R present, although readers are asked t o keep their eyes open and report any changes. It should also be recorded that whereas al l the new signs have no punct uation in the new name, the press notice o announcing the change r ecords the name as "Charing Cross ­ Embankment" (with a short dash) . U Up to the time of going to press, no posters publicising the change have been reported, the only announcements seeming to be those in the papers, taken fran t he press notice, issued by LT on 31st July - which reports that the change N has been made on the suggestion of the London Transport Passengers' Committee. D 129 130 '!BE POVERS OF IJ:N:X:N 'I'RANSPCRT 'It) A~IRE lAND lim '!HE PIJm03F.S OF '!HEIR RAILWAY UNDmTAKING It WI V. Baanan I that the 1 INl'R£DlrTION Ha.vever, : What authority has wndon Transport to acquire land to build fran the E a surface railway, or, in the case of a tube railway, to acquire times of J an easanent? Why are statutory powers needed, and how are they will of tl obtained? And how are they exercised? Now : These are same of the disjointed questions that recently that it WI sprang to my mind, so I decided to do a little research and find obtained 1 out. Having done so, and casually mentioned it to the Editor, he Furthenrol thought that it might make a suitable subject for a Journal article. and opera1 For those The follow'ing notes, which claim no great knowledge, are offered as the pre: in the hope that they might be of interest to others. The law own Act it relating to construction and running of a railway. including the the line ~ purchase of land therefor is an exceedingly carplicated one; the intention of this article is to set out, as simply and concisely The 1 as possible, the various steps required by London Transport in social an< the acquisition of land and easements for the purpose of its inundated railway undertaking. Anybody wishing to go further into the sub­ The coopel ject can at least use these "bones" on which to put "flesh". carmercia] or absorpt It should be mentioned here that we are dealing only with necessitat acquiSitions for purposes connected with the railway side of the undertaking, whether that purpose is as ccnplex as a Until proposed new line, or as simple as requiring an extra piece of contained land on which to erect a new relay roan. the inCOIll pay canpen It should be mentioned, for the record, that I am not an (d) power L. T. anployee; my only connections with the Underground are as necessary. a taxpayer and daily user. was plenty it during EARLY DEVEl.(J?MENTS undue wast In the early days of canals and railways, it was quickly appreciated by unscrupulous landowners that the plans of a proposed canpany could be exploited or hindered, either by In 18 refUSing to sell surn land as was required. or by dananding an of railway exorbitant price for that land. The histories of the early Consolidat railway carpanies are full of such struggles, even at times passed. T to the point of phYSical violence. 131 It was realised by the proposed railway undertakings, therefore, I that the power to catpel an owner to sell was most desirable. HaNever, it is an accepted principle of British law that, apart fran the exerciSe of the Royal Prerogative (as, for exanple. in l to build tiIoos of national anergency), land can only be taken against the ) acquire will of the rightful owner under the authority of Parliaroont. tre they Now in those early days, the state of canpany law was such that it was usually nece&'3arY for an Act of Parliaroont to be ~ntly obtained to enable a carpany to be fonred, or Ilincorporated". and find Furtherroore, it was probable that, at CCIIIIDn law, the construction &ditor, he and operation of a railway could constitute a public nuisance. mal article. For those three reasons, it was custcmary for the "praooters" ­ as the proIX>S9d railway undertakings were called - to obtain their e, are offered a.m Act in each case, giving them the necessary powers to construct Ibe law the line and run the railway after it had been built. uding the one; the The railway system in Britain grew during a period of great concisely social and industrial expansion, and Parliaroont was, therefore, port in inundated by praooters seeking legislation for their various schanes. 'f its The caq>etition was intense, and not every railway carpany was a :0 the sub­ lf ccmnercial success, which resulted in frequent amalgamations with, ,esh • or absorptions by, the IOOre successful crnpanies, and this also necessitated Parliaroontary tiIoo~' lly with .de of Until the middle of the nineteenth century, each railway Act a contained broadly similar express provisions which included (a) ,iece of the incorporation of the Canpany; (b) power to acquire land, and pay carpensation therefor; (c) authority to construct the works; (d) power to run the railway and (e) power to alter the works as not an necessary. Despite the broad similarity of the various Acts, there l are as was plenty of opportunity for the opponents of any scheme to block it during its passage thrrugh Parliament, which resulted in an undue waste of Parlimrentary time and lOOney. [Uick1y 1845 rnlARDS ,f a . by In 1845, therefore, in an effort to codify the introduction ding an of railway Bills, bo Acts of Parlimrent, the Railway Clauses arly Consolidation Act and the Lands Clauses Consolidation Act, were :i.rres passed. Tcgether with their subsequent amending Acts. they 132 provided a canplete cocle of clauses to be in~luded in the Private Bills introduced into Parliament by the individual promoters, covering same Act C<JJpllso all rmtters relating to the construction of railways and the purchase or taking of lands therefor. '!bese two acts applied to every undertaking authorised by private Act of Parliament passed after How the date, except insofar as they are expressly varied by that Private its ·pred Act. It should be noted, however, that these Clauses Consolidation method. Acts do not, by thaISelves, confer any rights to acquire land or actual 0 construct a railway; .it is still necessary for each promoter to Furtherm stop up i obtain his own Act. This Act, together with those sections of the Clauses Consolidation Acts (as amended) incorporated therewith, are waterma is requi: referred to as the "Special Act" and this expression will be used powers tl frequently in this article. It It is as well to mention here that the word "promoter" has incorpor. fallen into disuse in favour of the expression "statutory authority", Tak: For the sake of completeness, it should be added, in parentheses the firs' as it were, that in m:::dern times, powers to acquire land are given to principa: Government Departments, local or public authorities and other subsequel statutory undertakings, under the provisions of a section or sections in the BJ of a public general Act of Parliament, subject to the land to be Brixton] acquired thereunder fran time to time specifically identified in a "Canpulsory Purchase Order" approved by the appropriate Govermnent The Minister. In general, this procedure is used for such non-profit ~ making purposes as public health, sh.nn clearance, social services and the creation of new toons. In these circumstances, the section St~ or sections of the Act, together with the Compulsory Purchase Order, constitutes the Special Act. St~ Under Section 15 of the Transport Act 1962 (which Act, it will St~ be rane:rbered, abolished the old British Transport Cannission and transferred the aclninistration of London Transport fran an Executive of the Commission to an independent Board - though, of course, L.T. is now administered by an Executive of the G.L.C.) both British St~ Railways and London Transport may purchase caIpUlsorily any land required for the purposes of their business, subject to the making and confirmation of a Compulsory Purchase Order. By Section 17 of the By1 a partiCl. In the Cl: to detel'lJ }XJSitioDf 133 . in the Private srure Act, they may also prawte Bills in Parlirurent in which promoters, covering caJpllsory powers of acquisition are included. ys and the purchase ed to every However, it is the practice of both B.R. and L.T. to continue .t passed after i tspredeoessors' practice·of obtaining its :powers by the latter ied by that Private method. Statutory powers IDlBt, in any case, be obtained for the sea Consolidation actual construction of the works and the running of the trains.