Railways Act 2005

The Railways Act was passed by Parliament on 13 April 2005 and aims to improve the safety regime for all rail operators. It comes into force on 20 July 2005

The Act implements the recommendations of the Ministerial Inquiry into Tranz Rail (the Wilson report) and addresses gaps in the current safety framework, that have arisen because of recent changes in the rail industry.

It also consolidates most existing rail safety legislation into a single Act (aspects of Transport Services Licensing Act 1989 and the Land Transport Act 1998, as they relate to rail, and the Rail Safety and Corridor Management Act 1992).

The Act will introduce a more proactive approach to identifying and managing critical safety issues by ensuring key rail participants are licensed, that key safety data are collected, that operators demonstrate they're managing safety risks, and that Land Transport New Zealand has more powers to audit, inspect and sanction operators.


Read the text of the Act

The Railways Bill, as reported back to Parliament from the Transport and Industrial Relations Select Committee on 09 August 2004, is available here.

Available as: 

Questions and Answers - General

Questions and Answers - Industry

Information Sheet - Overview

Information Sheet - General

Information Sheet - Industry

• Bill delivers promised safety regime