NRS-15912 | Reports of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Works regarding Railways

Full description

This set of published reports was retained by the Railway Commissioners of New South Wales for reference purposes. They document the process of investigation by the Parliamentary Committee on Public Works of proposed railway works initially to a value of £20,000. The works included proposed railway lines, deviations and extensions of existing lines, bridges and other structures, repairs and rebuilding of railway infrastructure.

The reports were prepared as a result of a motion in Parliament to refer a proposed public work to the Committee. They cover the necessity for the work, and if the work was for a revenue producing facility, an estimate of the value that could be derived from it (1).

The investigation which formed the basis of these reports consisted of inspecting sites, calling and examining any person to answer questions, requiring the production of any books, maps or other records (2). Prime documentary sources for the Committee included estimates, plans and specifications and when the work was a railway line, maps or plans of the line, a Book Reference, and a report by the Railway Commissioners. Often the evidence of assessors, engineers or other experts and people with local knowledge was sought in determining the necessity for the work, and its cost (3).

The completed reports were submitted to Parliament who resolved for the work to either proceed or lapse and they were therefore printed amongst the Parliamentary papers and available to interested parties. If the report was rejected by Parliament the governor could require re-submission if he believed that the work was in the public interest, but other rejected works could not be re-considered by the Committee in less than one year (4).



Custody History:
From 1955 until 2000 the State Rail Authority of New South Wales maintained an ‘in house archives’ consisting of the archival records of the Authority, its predecessor agencies and the private railway companies taken over by the government. The date ranges of the records were from 1849 until 2000. When the decision was made to close the ‘State Rail Archives’ the parts of the collection that were required as State archives were transferred to the State Records Authority of NSW. Those record series were incorporated into the State Records series system of archives control and were re-numbered.

This series was formerly part of the State Rail Archives collection where it was identified as series R167. It may have been viewed in the State Rail Archives as series R167 and could have been previously cited as such in notes by researchers at State Rail Archives or in publications or unpublished works

ENDNOTES
1) Public Works Act 1888, (51 Victoria No. 37) s. 12
2) ibid., s. 10
3) ibid., s. 11
4) ibid., ss. 13 - 15