The Transport Act, 1962 was passed by Harold Macmillan's Conservative government to dissolve the British Transport Commission, which had been established by Clement Attlee's Labour government in the 1940s to oversee railways, canals and road freight transport. The act established the British Railways Board, which took over the British Transport Commission's railway responsibilities from 1 January 1963 until the passing of the Railways Act 1993.

The act put in place measures which were to enable the closure of aroud 1/3 of British railways the following year as a result of the Beeching report, as the act simplified the process of closing railways removing the need for pros and cons of each case to be heard in detail.

The act is the primary legislation from which the byelaws governing the uk railways gain their authority.

The act also established the British Transport Docks Board (BTDB), which is now Associated British Ports Holdings PLC (ABPH) which is the organisation which, through subsiduaries owns, operates and develops ports and associated activities in the UK.

Much of the 1962 Act has now been repealed and updated as a consequence of a broad range of later acts, further information can be found by searching for the act at the HMSO website (http://www.hmso.gov.uk)

See also

Associated British Ports (http://www.abports.co.uk)

Note

There are entirely unrelated acts of the same name in both Ireland (1962 Transport Act Ireland (http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/ZZA25Y1962.html)) and New Zealand (1962 Transport Act New Zealand (http://www.brookers.co.nz/catalogue/legislation.asp?i=T&l=1351) known as the "Transport Act 1962".

Categories: Railway Acts