22Special provision for Railways Board
(1)The Minister may, with the approval of the Treasury, out of money provided by Parliament make grants to the Railways Board to meet any deficit on their revenue account arising during the period of five years beginning with the vesting date.
(2)No loan shall be made by the Minister under subsection (1) of section twenty of this Act to the Railways Board to meet any deficit on their revenue account arising more than five years after the vesting date.
(3)The aggregate of any grants made under this section to the Railways Board, together with any loans made by the Minister under subsection (1) of section twenty of this Act to that Board to meet any deficit on their revenue account, shall not exceed four hundred and fifty million pounds, and both the power conferred by subsection (1) of this section and the power of the Minister to make loans under subsection (1) of the said section twenty shall be limited accordingly.
(4)During the period of five years beginning with the vesting date subsection (1) of section eighteen of this Act shall not apply to the Railways Board, but the Railways Board shall so conduct their business as to place themselves at the earliest possible date in such a position that their revenue will be, and continue to be, not less than sufficient for making provision for the meeting of charges properly chargeable to revenue, taking one year with another.
(5)For the purposes of the last foregoing subsection and, after the expiration of the said period of five years beginning with the vesting date, for the purposes of subsection (1) of section eighteen of this Act as it applies to the Railways Board, the Railways Board shall take into consideration deficits on revenue account arising at any time after the vesting date, except so far as the Minister has, under subsection (1) of this section, made a grant to meet any such deficit.
(6)Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (3) of section eighteen of this Act, the Railways Board need not establish a general reserve until they have fulfilled their duty under subsection (4) of this section.
(7)Nothing in this section shall be taken as imposing any duty or obligation on the Minister to advance money by way of grant or loan to the Railways Board.