Section 18

The Director General may, at any time, declare that subsection (1) shall not apply to such crossings as are specified in the declaration, and thereupon the railway company shall be relieved of the obligations imposed by subsection (1) in respect of the said crossings.

Where any such declaration has been made under subsection (2), the railway company shall erect warning boards alongside the public road and whistle-signals alongside the railway track at suitable distances from such level crossing, and the driver of every engine or other motive vehicle shall sound the whistle of his engine or other motive vehicle in accordance with such signals before the engine or other motive vehicle crosses the public road.

The railway company shall not be liable for any damage caused to any person or property by the passage of any engine, other motive vehicle or any other rolling-stock attached to it across the public road at any crossing specified in a declaration under subsection (2) unless it is proved that the driver of the engine, motive vehicle or rolling-stock did not sound the whistle of his engine, motive vehicle or rolling-stock in accordance with the signals.

Railways 25

Where a Government department, local authority or any other person constructs a public road across an existing railway track, the Government department, local authority or any other person charged with the responsibility for the maintenance of such road shall be liable to pay to the railway company the cost of the construction of any gate or barrier erected by the company at the point where the road crosses the railway track and an annual rent for the maintenance thereof.

Private crossings