Decree No. 03/2012/ND-CP dated January 19, 2012 of the Government amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Government's Decree no. 109/2006/ND-CP of September 22,2006, detailing and guiding the implementation of a number of articles of the Railway Law

DECREE

AMENDING AND SUPPLEMEN­TING A NUMBER OF ARTICLES OF THE GOVERNMENT S DECREE NO. 109/2006/ ND-CP OF SEPTEMBER 22,2006, DETAILING AND GUIDING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF A NUMBER OF ARTICLES OF THE RAILWAY LAW

THE GOVERNMENT

Pursuant to the December 25. 2001 Law on Organization of the Government:

Pursuant to the June 14, 2005 Railway Law;

At the proposal of the Minister of Transport.

DECREES:

Article 1.To amend or supplement a number of articles of the Government s Decree No. 109/ 2006/ND-CP of September 22,2006, detailing and guiding the implementation of a number of articles of the Railway Law.

1. To amend and supplement Article 1 as follows:

"Article 1. Scope of regulation

"This Decree details and guides the implementation of a number of articles of the Railway Law regarding railway infrastructure; urban railways; railway business; management and use of state-invested financial sources for management and maintenance of railway infrastructure: ticket price exemption or reduction for social policy beneficiaries: special-use railway self-propelled means: list of dangerous cargoes and the railway transportation of dangerous cargoes: responsibilities of ministries, ministerial- level agencies, government-attached agencies and provincial-level People s Committees (below referred to as provincial-level People s Committees) for the assurance of order and safety in railway transport."

2. To amend and supplement Clauses 3 and 4 of Article 5 as follows:

"3. Railway land must be planted with boundary markers. The planting of boundary markers is provided for as follows:

a/ For land planned for railways:

The planting of boundary markers shall be undertaken by the Ministry of Transport in coordination with provincial-level People s Committees of localities in which railways are planned.

b/ For land reserved for railways, upon upgrading or renovation of railways currently in operation or construction of new railways after the Railway Law took effect on January 1, 2006. project investors have the following responsibilities:

To assume prime responsibility for. and coordinate with district-level People s Committees of localities where exist railway works in, formulating schemes for planting boundary markers to determine the protection scope of railway works and the safety corridors of railway transport, and submitting them to the provincial-level People s Committees of localities in which the railway works are located for approval. Within three months after the boundary marker-planting schemes are approved by provincial-level People s Committees, project investors shall assume prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the district-level People s Committees and commune-level People s Committees of localities where the railway works are located in, publicizing the protection boundaries of railway works and safely corridors of railway transport and organizing the boundary marker planting in the field and handing over the planted boundary markers to commune-level People s Committees of localities in which railway works are located for management and protection.

c/ For land reserved for railways which are currently in operation and exist before the Railway Law took effect on January 1, 2006, railway infrastructure enterprises have the following responsibilities:

To assume prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the district- level People s Committees of localities where railway works are located in, formulating schemes for planting boundary markers to determine the protection scope of railway works and safety corridors of railway transport, and submitting them to the provincial-level People s Committees of localities in which railway works are located for approval. Within three months after the boundary marker planting schemes are approved by provincial-level People s Committees of localities in which railway works are located, railway infrastructure enterprises shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the district-level People s Committees and commune-level People s Committees of localities in which railway works are located in, publicizing the protection boundaries of railway works and safety corridors of railway transport, and organizing the boundary marker planting in the field and handing over the planted boundary markers to the commune-level People s Committees of localities in which railway works are protected for management and protection.

3. Compensation, support and ground clearance for railway land arc provided as follows:

a/ For land reserved for railways, upon upgrading and renovation of railways currently in operation or construction of new ones after the Railway Law took effect on January 1,2006:

- If funds are adequate, to immediately carry out the compensation, support and ground clearance for land reserved for construction of railway works, land lying within the protection scope of railway works and land lying in the safety corridors of railway transport in accordance with the Railway Law and the land law.

- If funds are inadequate for immediate ground clearance for land reserved for railways under the Railway Law, the following steps shall be taken:

Step 1: To proceed with the compensation, support and ground clearance for land lying within the protection scope of railway works prescribed by the Railway Law. If the practical ground is narrow, leading to the width of the protection scope of a railway bridge is not large enough under Point b, Clause 4, Article 28 of the Railway Law, such width may be determined under Point a, Clause 4, Article 28 of the Railway Law, provided necessary measures are taken to ensure safety for the railway bridge.

Step 2: To proceed with the compensation, support and ground clearance for land lying within the safety corridors of railway transport but outside the protection scope of railway works under the following regulations:

If the land use affects the safety of railway works or railway transport or the operation of railway works directly affects the life and health of land users, the railway state management agencies shall appraise the degree of such impact and propose the competent People s Committees to recover such land if it is so required. Persons with recovered land are entitled to compensation or support under law.

If the land use does not affect the safety of railway works and railway transport or the operation of railway works does not directly affect the life and health of land users, the current land users may continue using the land for the purposes permitted by competent state management agencies, but shall strictly comply with the regulations on assurance of safety for railway works and railway transport.

Step 3: To proceed with the compensation, support and ground clearance for land lying within the protection scope of railway works and safety corridors of railway transport under the Railway Law.

b/ For railways currently in operation which were built before the Railway Law took effect on January 1, 2006:

- If funds are adequate, compensation, support and ground clearance shall be immediately carried out for land reserved for construction of railway works, land lying within the protection scope of railway works and land lying in the safety corridors of railway transport under the Railway Law and the land law.

- If funds arc inadequate for immediate compensation, support and ground clearance for railway land prescribed by the Railway Law, the following steps shall be taken:

Step 1: To proceed with the compensation, support and ground clearance for land lying within the railway foundation safety limit as follows: a width of 5 meters from the fool of the railway bed, for embanked beds or from the top edge, for dug beds, or of 3 meters from the foot of the lengthwise ditch or top ditch of the railroad: of 5.6 meters from the outside edge of the outmost rails outward, for undug or unembanked road beds. Particularly, the lengthwise protection scope of a railway bridge shall be determined under Point a, Clause 4, Article 28 of the Railway Law.

Land lying outside the above-said safety scope of the railway bed to the end of the safety corridor of railway transport shall be handled as follows:

If the land use affects the safety of railway works and railway transport or the operation of railway works directly affects the life and health of land users, the railway state management agencies shall appraise the degree of such impact and propose the competent People s Committees to recover such land if it is so required. Persons with recovered land are entitled to compensation or support under law.

If the land use does not affect the safety of railway works and railway transport or the operation of railway works does not directly affect the life and health of land users, the current land users may continue using the land for the purposes permitted by competent, state agencies, provided they strictly comply with the regulations on safety of railway works and railway transport.

Step 2: To proceed with the compensation, support and ground clearance for land lying within the protection scope of railway works and safety corridors of railway transport according to the Railway Law.

c/ Compensation, support for assets and facilities attached to land upon land recovery:

- For facilities built before the protection scope of railway works and safety corridors of railway transport are publicized under law, their owners are entitled to compensation or support when the land is recovered under the land law.

- For facilities built after the protection scope of railway works and safely corridors of railway transport arc publicized under law, their owners shall dismantle the works by themselves and are not entitled to compensation or support upon land recovery, excluding facilities built with permits as provided in Article 33 of the Railway Law."

4. To add the following Point f to Clause 2, Article 7:

"f/ At the level crossings between railways and roads where there are no watch persons, it is forbidden to build works within the angle blocking the visibility of road vehicle or train operators.

The Minister of Transport shall specify the scope of visibility-blocking angles for each type of level crossings between railways and roads."

5. To add the following Chapter Va to the end of Chapter V:

"Chapter Va

SPECIAL-USE RAILWAY SELF-PROPELLED MEANS

Article 38a.Special-use railway self-propelled means

1. Special-use railway self-propelled means include:

a/ Special-use self-propelled means moving on railways for transportation of people, materials and equipment used for specialized railway activities.

b/ Special-use self-propelled means moving on railways for railway accident rescue; for inspection, construction, maintenance and repair of railway works and for defense and security purposes.

2. Special-use railway self-propelled equipment and facilities:

a/ Special-use self-propelled means moving on railways for transportation of people, materials and equipment used for specialized railway activities, when operated or used on railways, must comply with the provisions of Article 43 of the Railway Law.

b/ The Minister of Transport shall specify the list of, and measures to ensure safety for, special-use self-propelled means for railway accident rescue, inspection, construction, maintenance and repair of railway works, and security or defense purposes, which, when operated or used on railways, must be fit with devices to record speed and information relating to train operation (black boxes)."

Article 2.Effect

This Decree lakes effect on March 2. 2012.

Article 3.Organization of implementation

1. The Ministry of Transport shall guide the implementation of this Decree.

2. Ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies, heads of government-attached agencies and chairpersons of provincial-level People s Committees shall implement this Decree.-