The Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Rail Regulations 1996

Restrictions on the carriage of explosives

24.—(1) No person shall cause or permit to be carried any unclassified explosives.

(2) No person shall cause or permit to be carried any explosives, except in accordance with these Regulations.

(3) No person shall cause or permit to be carried any explosives in a tank container or tank wagon.

(4) No person shall cause or permit to be carried any explosives within a Compatibility Group whose Compatibility Group letter is K unless—

(a) the explosives are to be carried for the purpose of explosive ordnance disposal under the direction of a member of Her Majesty’s Forces or a person authorised by the Secretary of State for Defence; and

(b) the approval has been obtained of—

(i) the train operator, in whose train the explosives are to be carried; and

(ii) the infrastructure controller, on whose railway those goods are to be carried.

(5) No person shall cause or permit to be carried any explosive substances in an open container or open wagon.

(6) No person shall cause or permit to be carried any explosive substances within a Compatibility Group whose Compatibility Group letter is A.

(7) No person shall cause or permit to be carried in any container or wagon explosives with a net explosive content exceeding 20 tonnes unless such explosives are within a Division whose Division number is 1.4.

(8) (a) No person shall cause or permit to be carried in any adjacent group of containers or wagons explosives of the type specified in column 1 of Schedule 8 with a net explosive content exceeding that specified for that type of explosives in the corresponding entry in column 2 thereof;

(b) where a train comprises more than one such group of adjacent containers or wagons the train operator shall ensure that the minimum separation distance between the nearest parts of each such group shall be that specified in the corresponding entry in column 3 thereof.

(9) Subject to paragraph (10), no person shall cause or permit to be carried any explosives wihtin different Compatibility Groups, (other than those within a Division whose Division number is 1.4), in the same container or wagon unless effective measures have been taken to ensure that the carriage of such a mixed load is no more dangerous than the carriage of the same quantity of explosives within any one of the Compatibility Groups in the load would be.

(10) Nothing in paragraph (9) shall apply to the carriage of explosives within different Compatibility Groups mixed in accordance with Schedule 9 to these Regulations.

(11) No person shall cause or permit to be carried any explosive articles in an open container or open wagon unless, by reason of their packaged weight or dimension, it is not possible to carry the articles concerned in a closed container or closed wagon.

(12) Any person who causes or permits to be carried any explosive articles in an open container or open wagon in accordance with paragraph (11) shall ensure that the articles concerned are completely covered by sheeting and that the sheeting is securely fixed to the open container or open wagon concerned except where—

(a) it would not be reasonably practicable to cover the explosive articles with such sheeting; and

(b) it would not be necessary for their protection.