The Court of Appeal has delivered its judgment in the case of Williams v Network Rail Infrastructure Ltd [2018] EWCA Civ 1514 concerning the spread of Japanese Knotweed from the defendant’s land. The full facts are set out in my blog entry relating to the County Court judgment. The Court of Appeal upheld the decision of…Continue Reading Network Rail Loses Japanese Knotweed Appeal
Rail Franchises, Competition and Public Service
The UK rail network has undergone a series of massive restructuring exercises throughout its history. Having been run into the ground during the First World War the myriad Victorian era companies were rationalised into the ‘Big Four’ under the Railways Act 1921 but were still set up as joint stock public companies. After a few halcyon inter-war…Continue Reading Rail Franchises, Competition and Public Service
All the Queen’s Horses: HS2 and Statutory Authority
On a dark December evening in 1827 a sporting gentleman, who chronicled his fox-hunting adventures under the name of Nimrod (Charles James Apperley), was riding on horseback along the Yarm turnpike. Out of the darkness emerged a terrifying apparition which he later described as a ‘moving hell’, a clanking, hissing iron monster exulting ‘blazing fires…Continue Reading All the Queen’s Horses: HS2 and Statutory Authority