{"id":"nsw:act-1927-026","name":"St. Leonards to Eastwood Railway Act 1927","slug":"st-leonards-to-eastwood-railway-act-1927","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"nsw","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":"26 of 1927","makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":111840,"registerId":"nsw-act-1927-026-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-03","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Name of Act","content":"#### 1 Name of Act\n\n1 Name of Act\n\n> This Act may be cited as the [St. Leonards to Eastwood Railway Act 1927](/view/html/inforce/current/act-1927-026).","sortOrder":0},{"sectionNumber":"2","sectionType":"section","heading":"Work sanctioned","content":"#### 2 Work sanctioned\n\n2 Work sanctioned\n\n> The carrying out of the work described in the Schedule to this Act is hereby sanctioned.","sortOrder":1},{"sectionNumber":"3","sectionType":"section","heading":"The plan","content":"#### 3 The plan\n\n3 The plan\n\n> The plan of the said work is the plan marked “N.S.W. Railways, St. Leonards to Eastwood, Schedule Plan”, signed by the Railway Commissioners for New South Wales and countersigned by the Chief Engineer for Railway and Tramway Construction, and deposited in the public office of the said Railway Commissioners.","sortOrder":2},{"sectionNumber":"4","sectionType":"section","heading":"Cost","content":"#### 4 Cost\n\n4 Cost\n\n> The cost of carrying out the said work (exclusive of land resumptions) is estimated at six hundred and ninety-three thousand nine hundred and eighteen pounds, and such estimated cost shall not, under any circumstances, be exceeded by more than ten per centum.","sortOrder":3},{"sectionNumber":"5","sectionType":"section","heading":"Work may be constructed on road","content":"#### 5 Work may be constructed on road\n\n5 Work may be constructed on road\n\n> The said work may be constructed on or along or by the side of any road or highway.","sortOrder":4},{"sectionNumber":"sch","sectionType":"schedule","heading":"Schedule","content":"# sch Schedule\n\nSchedule\n\nTHE proposed electric railway commences at a point on the Milson’s Point to Hornsby line at 3 miles 30 chains from Milson’s Point, and about 40 chains north of St. Leonards Station; the route proceeds in a westerly direction to Parklands-avenue, thence it bears south-westerly to the head of Burns Bay, and takes a generally north-westerly direction and crosses Lane Cove River immediately north of its confluence on its western side with Buffalo Creek; ascends Kitty’s Creek, at the head of which a westerly bearing takes it past the northern side of North Ryde Public School and School of Arts, across the Great North road and to the terminus at 11 miles 56 chains from Milson’s Point at a point about 20 chains north of the Eastwood Station on the existing Sydney to Hornsby line, being a total distance of 9 miles 6 chains, including the branch line to the Northern Suburbs Cemetery, and subject to such deviations and modifications as may be considered desirable by the Constructing Authority.","sortOrder":5}],"analysis":{"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The Act authorises a single, specified railway project along the route in the Schedule, identifies the deposited plan, sets an estimated cost with a 10% cap (excluding land resumptions), and permits construction on roads (ss 2–5, sch). It does not expand general railway powers or apply beyond this described work; there is no textual evidence in the Act that the project's statutory scope was altered from its original description."},"complexity_factors":["Short, project‑specific instrument with few procedural details — no construction timetable, approval process, or funding source specified (whole Act)","Estimated cost fixed with a 10% exceedance cap, but explicitly excludes land resumptions (s4) — creates a split in who bears land acquisition costs","Route defined by a deposited plan signed by Railway Commissioners and Chief Engineer; reliance on a physical deposited plan concentrates decision authority in those offices (s3, sch)","Constructing Authority may make deviations and modifications to the route, giving operational discretion over final alignment (sch)","Permission to construct on or alongside roads may require coordination with road authorities and affects public rights of way (s5)","Use of imperial distance units (miles and chains) in the Schedule may complicate modern surveying or interpretation (sch)","No detailed land resumption process or compensation mechanism set out in the Act — potential gap between authorisation and execution (whole Act)"],"plain_english_summary":"Authorises construction of an electric railway from near St Leonards to near Eastwood along the route set out in the Schedule, based on a deposited plan, and allows the works to be built on or alongside public roads (ss 2–3, sch, s5).\n\nSets the estimated construction cost at £693,918 with a 10% maximum exceedance (land resumptions excluded); the Railway Commissioners/Chief Engineer hold the plan and the Constructing Authority may make route deviations (s4, s3, sch)."},"summary":{"complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"Based on available information, the Act has never been amended since its commencement on 7 March 1927, strongly suggesting its scope remains exactly as originally enacted — a narrow authorisation for a specific railway construction project."},"complexity_factors":["Extremely narrow, single-purpose legislation with no amendments in nearly 100 years","No substantive text of the Act is available in the provided document — only metadata — making full analysis impossible","Historical infrastructure Acts of this era typically contained straightforward construction authorisations, land acquisition powers, and route descriptions with limited cross-referencing to other legislation","Age of the Act means it may reference obsolete bodies, units of measurement (chains, furlongs) or legal frameworks no longer in use, adding minor interpretive complexity"],"plain_english_summary":"The St Leonards to Eastwood Railway Act 1927 is a single-purpose NSW law that authorised building a rail link from St Leonards to Eastwood (now part of the T9 Northern Line corridor). It historically affected railway authorities, nearby landowners (including compulsory acquisition) and local commuters. Largely of historical interest today, the Act remains technically in force with no amendments and carries limited practical relevance beyond its original enabling role."},"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[{"type":"other","section":"Status Information - Currency of version","severity":"low","reasoning":"The boilerplate update notice is logically inapplicable to legislation that has never been amended across nearly a century of operation. While not a flaw in the Act itself, it reflects a metadata absurdity: the infrastructure of currency and amendment tracking is applied to a legislative instrument that has been wholly static since 1927.","confidence":0.6,"description":"The Act is described as having a 'Current version for 7 March 1927 to date (accessed 3 April 2026 at 15:54)' with only a single point-in-time version existing (07/03/1927), yet the status information states 'Legislation on this site is usually updated within 3 working days after a change to the legislation.' No changes have occurred in approximately 99 years, rendering the update promise entirely moot."},{"type":"impossible_compliance","section":"General - Legislative Content","severity":"high","reasoning":"A railway authorisation Act would ordinarily contain provisions authorising construction, defining the route, granting powers of acquisition, establishing liability, and setting conditions. None of these appear. Without operative provisions, it is impossible to determine what is authorised, prohibited, or required. Compliance with, or enforcement of, the Act is therefore logically impossible from the text provided.","confidence":0.75,"description":"The document as provided contains no substantive legislative provisions whatsoever. It consists entirely of website navigation elements, metadata, status information, and boilerplate text. An Act of Parliament with no operative sections, definitions, purposes, or enforcement mechanisms cannot achieve any legal effect and is logically incomplete as a legislative instrument."},{"type":"other","section":"Status Information - Authorisation","severity":"low","reasoning":"While retrospective application of procedural certification mechanisms is legally permissible and common, there is a temporal oddity in applying a 1987 certification regime to validate the authenticity of a 1927 Act. The Interpretation Act 1987 cannot have been contemplated by the drafters of the 1927 Act, and any original authorisation framework from 1927 has been superseded by a mechanism that did not exist at the time of enactment.","confidence":0.5,"description":"The document certifies itself as correct under section 45C of the Interpretation Act 1987, a statute enacted 60 years after this Act was passed in 1927. The certification mechanism post-dates the Act being certified by six decades."}],"contradictions":[{"severity":"low","section_a":"Status Information - Currency of version","section_b":"Point-in-time versions","confidence":0.5,"description":"The currency statement describes the version as current 'for 7 March 1927 to date', implying continuous and unbroken currency across 99 years. However, the point-in-time version panel lists only a single version dated 07/03/1927 as the sole 'In force version'. These two representations create a minor logical tension: the currency framing implies ongoing active currency requiring maintenance, while the version history implies the Act has been static and untouched since its commencement date."}]},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":1,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This legislation remains tightly scoped to its original purpose: authorising a specific railway construction project between two named locations in 1927. There is no evidence of scope creep; the Act is a complete, self-contained piece of infrastructure approval legislation typical of its era."},"complexity_factors":["Extremely short: only 5 operative sections plus schedule","No defined terms section","No cross-references to other legislation","Simple conditional logic: only one numerical limitation (10% cost overrun allowance)","Straightforward declaratory language ('is hereby sanctioned')","Single purpose legislation with no exceptions or exemptions"],"plain_english_summary":"This is a short, old law from 1927 that gave official government approval to build a new electric railway line in Sydney's northern suburbs. The railway would run from St. Leonards (near the existing Milson's Point to Hornsby line) westward through areas including Lane Cove and North Ryde, ending at Eastwood. The law:\n\n- **Authorises the construction** of a 9-mile railway line with a branch to the Northern Suburbs Cemetery\n- **Sets a budget cap** of £693,918 (with a 10% buffer allowed)\n- **Allows building on roads** if needed\n- **References a technical plan** held by the Railway Commissioners showing the exact route\n\nThis was typical of early 20th century infrastructure legislation—simple parliamentary approval for a specific public works project, with basic cost controls and route descriptions using imperial measurements (miles and chains). The line described here roughly corresponds to what became the Epping to Chatswood rail link (though that was built much later and followed a modified route)."},"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"A positive credit balance is required for all requests, including BYOK, so fallback providers remain available. Add credits at https://vercel.com/d?to=%2F%5Bteam%5D%2F%7E%2Fai%3Fmodal%3Dtop-up to continue.","source":"analysis-cron"}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/st-leonards-to-eastwood-railway-act-1927","history":"/api/acts/st-leonards-to-eastwood-railway-act-1927/history","analysis":"/api/acts/st-leonards-to-eastwood-railway-act-1927/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/st-leonards-to-eastwood-railway-act-1927/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/st-leonards-to-eastwood-railway-act-1927/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/st-leonards-to-eastwood-railway-act-1927/documents"}}