Commentary on Sections Part 4 – Supplementary Section 48 – Application of original railway enactments
208.The purpose of this section is to discharge BRB (Residuary) Limited from any statutory liabilities that remain with them relating to a former railway in respect of land acquired by the authorised undertaker. A former railway for the purpose of this section is a railway which did not pass to Railtrack PLC (now known as Network Rail Infrastructure Limited) with the operational railway infrastructure of the British Railways Board on the privatisation of the national rail network. The British Railways Board was left on privatisation with land held in connection with  abandoned railways and any historic statutory liabilities which attached to those railways and BRB (Residuary) Limited has inherited that land and those liabilities. On acquisition of the land  by the authorised undertaker these statutory liabilities will be superseded by the statutory liabilities applying to the new railway works but since they are statutory liabilities BRB(Residuary) Limited will remain bound by them  unless the Act contains express statutory authority for it to be discharged. That is what this section achieves.