Chapter VI
RAILWAY TRAFFIC SIGNALS AND RULES, ASSURANCE OF RAILWAY COMMUNICATIONS AND TRANSPORT ORDER AND SAFETY
Section 1. RAILWAY TRAFFIC SIGNALS AND RULES
Article 63.- Railway traffic signals
1. The railway traffic signal system shall include orders of persons participating in controlling train operations, color light signals, semaphore signals, signal boards, protection flares, torches and signals of trains. The signal displays are orders and conditions for train operation and shunting.
2. Orders of persons participating in controlling train operations shall include banners, whistles, telephones, lights and hand signals.
3. Color signal lights are those used to signal train drivers to operate trains to enter, exit or get through stations, or stop the trains.
4. Semaphore signals are those used to signal train drivers to operate trains in, out or past stations, or to stop at places where there are no color light signals.
5. Signal boards shall include the two following groups:
a) Signal boards for supply of necessary information to train drivers;
b) Signboards, sign-markers for compelling train drivers to abide by.
6. Protection flares, torches, red light, rotating hand devices for signaling trains to urgently stop.
7. Trains' signals shall include lights, horns, rear signal boards and banners.
8. The Minister of Transport shall specify the railway traffic signals.
Article 64.- Train operation command
1. The train operation in each depot-to-depot section shall be commanded by only one train-running controllers. Superiors' train operation orders must be executed through train-running controllers' commands. Direct station train controllers, train captains, train drivers must strictly abide by the train-running controllers' commands.
2. Within railway stations, direct station train controllers shall be the persons commanding the train operations. Train captains and drivers must abide by the orders of station train controllers or by the signals' display.
3. Onboard trains, train captains are the persons commanding to ensure safe train operation.
4. On single locomotives, urban trains, train drivers are the persons commanding the train operation.
Article 65.- Train speed
1. Train speed must not exceed the speed provided in the speed pass for each rail route, depot-to-depot section or station-to-station section and comply with train operation timetable.
2. At railway sections with warning signs indicating speeds other than those provided in speed pass, train drivers must operate trains at the lowest speed to ensure safe train operation.
Article 66.- Train formation
1. The train formation must strictly comply with the railway technical process and regulations.
2. Only carriages satisfying technical safety standards can be coupled.
3. It is forbidden to couple carriages carrying animals or stinky goods, inflammables, explosive, or hazardous substances, dangerous commodities with passenger trains.
Article 67.- Train shunting
1. Train shunting means moving locomotives, carriages from one position to another within a railway station or a station-to-station section. Train shunting must be conducted under plans of direct station train controllers.
2. In the course of train shunting, train drivers must obey the command of chief shunters.
Article 68.- Operating trains
1. When operating trains, train drivers must observe the following regulations:
a) To operate trains to move out of stations, get through stations, stop, give ways or overtake in stations on the order of direct station train controllers;
b) To be allowed to operate trains into station-to-station sections only where there are possessions;
c) To be allowed to operate trains to enter stations, get past stations according to color light signals, semaphore signals and signals of direct station train controllers;
d) To run train at the speeds provided for in Article 65 of this Law;
e) In the course of operating trains, train drivers and assistant drivers on duty must not leave the working places.
2. Passenger trains can run only when all doors of passenger cars are closed. Passenger cars' doors shall be opened only when trains have completely stopped in railway stations.
Article 69.- Giving ways, overtaking by trains
1. Giving ways, overtaking by trains must be done in railway stations.
2. Train drivers shall give way to, overtake other trains on national railways, specialized railways by order of direct station train controllers; on urban railways, by order of urban train operators.
Article 70.- Stopping, reversing trains
Train drivers must stop trains when seeing stop signals; when detecting circumstances which threaten train operation safety or when receiving signals for emergency stop, they are allowed to urgently stop or reverse the trains. In cases of urgent stop or reversal, train captains and drivers shall have the responsibility to notify the station authorities thereof according to regulations on train operation process.
Article 71.- Traffic at crossroads, on common bridges, in tunnels
1. At crossroads and on common bridges, the traffic priority right shall belong to trains.
2. Train drivers must blow whistles before entering crossroads, must switch on the headlights when running in tunnels.
3. Land traffic participants traveling through crossroads and common bridges must comply with the provisions of Article 23 of the Law on Road Traffic.
4. At crossroads or on common bridges with guards, when signal lights do not work or give wrong signals against regulation, when road barriers are out of order, the crossroad guards, common bridge guards must control the traffic.
Article 72.- Abiding by railway traffic signals
1. Persons directly participating in train operation must abide by the railway traffic signals.
2. Train drivers must abide by the signals safest for people and means when simultaneously receiving different signals or unclear signals; in cases of signals given directly by traffic controllers, they must abide by the signals of such controllers.
3. In cases where iron-wheel trams join in road traffic, the tram drivers must abide by the road traffic signals.
Section 2. ASSURANCE OF RAILWAY COMMUNICATIONS AND TRANSPORT ORDER AND SAFETY
Article 73.- Activities of ensuring railway communications and transport order and safety
1. Activities of ensuring railway communications and transport order and safety shall include:
a) Ensuring safety for people, means, property of the State and people in railway communications and transport activities;
b) Ensuring the concentrated and unified control of communications and transport activities on national railways or urban railways.
2. Organizations and individuals must observe the legal provisions on ensuring railway communications and transport order and safety.
3. Acts of violating the regulations on railway communications and transport order and safety must be detected in time, strictly handled according to law.
4. Organizations and individuals participating in railway communications and transport activities, the railway security forces shall have the responsibility to ensure railway communications and transport order and safety. The police forces and local administrations at all levels in localities where railway stations are located and rail routes run through shall, within the scope of their respective tasks and powers, have the responsibility to ensure railway communications and transport security, order and safety.
Article 74.- Contents of railway communications and transport controlling
1. Controlling communications and transport on national railways, urban railways shall cover the following contents:
a) Making timetable and path allocation without discrimination between railway transport enterprises; publicizing train operation timetable;
b) Commanding train operations in a concentrated and unified manner, ensuring safe and smooth operations according to the publicized train operation timetable, process, regulations and the superiors' orders;
c) Commanding the handling of urgent or extraordinary incidents occurring on railways; mobilizing means, equipment and human resources of enterprises in the railway sector for work of rescue and remedy of railway incidents; participating in analyzing the causes of incidents; requesting railway infrastructure or railway transport enterprises to apply measures to prevent and combat incidents, raise the quality, reliability and safety of railway communications and transport;
d) Suspending train operation when deeming it threatening to cause unsafety for train operations; adjusting itineraries of trains in each depot-to-depot section, each rail route, the entire railway networks in order to restore train operation timetable after accidents or incidents;
e) Signing contracts with railway infrastructure enterprises for use of railway infrastructure for train operation; signing contracts with railway transport enterprises for provision of controlling services and other services related to railway communications and transport;
f) Receiving and synthesizing information related to railway communications and transport control;
g) Requesting competent state agencies to recover safety certificates of railway business enterprises when detecting that such enterprises have failed to satisfy the conditions prescribed in the safety certificates;
h) Coordinating with international railway organizations in controlling railway communications and transport.
2. Financial sources for activities of controlling national railway or urban railway communications and transport shall include:
a) Charges for services on controlling railway communications and transport activities;
b) Other revenue sources as provided for by law.
Article 75.- Safety certificate
1. To be entitled to participate in railway communications and transport activities, railway business enterprises must acquire safety certificates issued by state management agencies in charge of railway activities.
2. To be granted safety certificates, railway business enterprises must satisfy the following conditions:
a) Personnel managing, controlling and serving railway communications and transport activities of railway business enterprises must be trained to suit their respective titles and technical grades;
b) Railway traffic means owned or hired by railway transport enterprises must ensure the technical safety standards which have been certified by registry offices and must be suitable to railway infrastructures;
c) Railway infrastructures of railway infrastructure enterprises must ensure safety and be suitable to the railway technical grades announced by the enterprises in the speed pass, load pass and information related to railway communications and transport activities.
3. The Ministry of Transport shall specify the conditions, contents of, and procedures for granting safety certificates and types of railway business enterprises which must acquire safety certificates.
Article 76.- Train operation timetable
1. Train operation timetables constitute a basis for organizing train operations, which are elaborated annually, periodically and seasonally for each route and the entire railway network. The train operation timetables must be formulated on the principle of non-discrimination and publicization to all railway transport enterprises.
2. The formulation of train operation timetables must be based on the following elements:
a) Transport enterprises' demands in terms of transport duration, goods volumes, numbers of passengers and transport quality; transport routes, departure, stop and destination stations;
b) Capacity of railway infrastructures and railway transport means;
c) The time needed for the maintenance or repair of railway infrastructures;
d) The priority order for trains running on the same routes.
3. The Minister of Transport shall define the priority order for trains.
Article 77.- Train operation timetable-formulating order
1. Train operation timetable drafts must be based on the provisions of Clause 2, Article 76 of this Law and sent to railway business enterprises and state management agencies in charge of railway activities.
2. In cases where any railway transport enterprises disagree with the train operation timetable drafts, the railway communications and transport-controlling organizations shall assume the prime responsibility for negotiations and agreement with relevant railway transport enterprises, railway infrastructure enterprises. In case of failure to reach agreement, bidding shall be held and the railway transport enterprises which offer the highest payable charge for use of infrastructures shall be allocated train operation timetables according to their demands.
3. The process of formulating train operation timetables specified in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article shall be supervised by state management agencies in charge of railway activities.
Article 78.- Principles for train operation controlling
Train operation controlling must observe the following principles:
1. Being concentrated and unified; compliant with the publicized train operation timetables, process, regulations;
2. Ensuring safe and smooth railway communications and transport according to train operation timetables;
3. Being non-discriminatory between railway business enterprises.
Article 79.- Handling of railway incidents, violations upon detection thereof
1. Persons who detect acts or incidents which may obstruct or cause unsafety to railway communications and transport shall have to report them in time to station authorities, railway units, local administrations or the nearest police offices for taking handling measures; in case of urgency, measures must be taken immediately to signal the trains to stop.
2. Organizations or individuals that receive such reports or signals to urgently stop the trains must take immediate handling measures to ensure railway communications and transport safety and notify units which directly manage the railway infrastructures thereof so as to take initiative in coordinating with relevant units in quickly applying remedies.
3. Organizations or individuals that commit acts of obstructing, or causing unsafety to, railway communications and transport must be handled and pay compensations according to the provisions of law.
Article 80.- Responsibility to maintain order and safety in railway activities of railway business enterprises
1. Railway business enterprises shall have the responsibility to organize the maintenance of order and safety in railway activities under their respective management; to assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with police offices, local administrations in, preventing, stopping and handling according to competence acts of violating the legislation on railways and take responsibility before law for their own decisions.
2. The train security forces shall be equipped with facilities, uniforms, badges, support tools under the Government's regulations and have the following tasks:
a) To detect and stop acts of infringing upon the life, health, property of people, causing disorder, unsafety and other acts of law violation onboard trains; to temporarily hold in custody according to administrative procedures and hand over the violators to station chiefs, police offices of local administrations when trains stop at the nearest stations;
b) To stop, apply coercive measures against persons who commit acts of illegally obstructing train operations, throwing earth, rocks or other objects thus causing damage or unhygiene to trains; to temporarily hold in custody and hand over violators to station chiefs, police offices or local administrations when trains stop at the nearest stations;
c) To coordinate with the railway infrastructure-security forces, police forces and local administrations in promptly detecting and preventing acts of encroaching upon railway infrastructures, railway traffic means, causing unsafety to railway communications and transport;
d) To participate in settling, redressing incidents, natural disasters, railway accidents as defined in Article 11 and Article 37 of this Law.
Article 81.- Police forces' responsibility to ensure security, order and safety in railway activities
The police forces shall, within the scope of their tasks and powers, have to assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with railway security forces, railway inspectorate, railway officials, public servants and employees and local administrations in localities where railway stations are located and/or railways run through in, organizing the maintenance of security, order and safety in railway activities.
Article 82.- People's Committees' responsibility to ensure security, order and safety in railway activities
1. People's Committees at all levels shall, within the scope of their tasks and powers, have to organize the implementation of the provisions of Clause 2, Article 10 of this Law in order to raise the people's sense of maintaining railway traffic security, order and safety.
2. People's Committees at all levels of the localities where railway stations are located and/or rail routes run through shall have the following responsibilities:
a) To direct the local police forces in coordinating with the railway security forces to prevent and handle in time acts of encroaching upon railway infrastructures and/or railway traffic means and other acts of violating the legislation on railway communications and transport safety;
b) To participate in settling railway traffic accidents under the provisions of Article 11 of this Law.
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Luật Đường sắt 2005 (Bản Word)