NRS-15912 | Reports of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Works regarding Railways

This set of published reports was retained by the Railway Commissioners of New South Wales for reference purposes. They document the process of investigation by the Parliamentary Committee on Public Works of proposed railway works initially to a value of £20,000. The works included proposed railway lines, deviations and extensions of existing lines, bridges and other structures, repairs and rebuilding of railway infrastructure. The reports were prepared as a result of a motion in Parliament to refer a proposed public work to the Committee. They cover the necessity for the work, and if the work was for a revenue producing facility, an estimate of the value that could be derived from it (1). The investigation which formed the basis of these reports consisted of inspecting sites, calling and examining any person to answer questions, requiring the production of any books, maps or other records (2). Prime documentary sources for the Committee included estimates, plans and specifications and when the work was a railway line, maps or plans of the line, a Book Reference, and a report by the Railway Commissioners. Often the evidence of assessors, engineers or other experts and people with local knowledge was sought in determining the necessity for the work, and its cost (3).The completed reports were submitted to Parliament who resolved for the work to either proceed or lapse and they were therefore printed amongst the Parliamentary papers and available to interested parties. If the report was rejected by Parliament the governor could require re-submission if he believed that the work was in the public interest, but other rejected works could not be re-considered by the Committee in less than one year (4). Custody History:From 1955 until 2000 the State Rail Authority of New South Wales maintained an ‘in house archives’ consisting of the archival records of the Authority, its predecessor agencies and the private railway companies taken over by the government. The date ranges of the records were from 1849 until 2000. When the decision was made to close the ‘State Rail Archives’ the parts of the collection that were required as State archives were transferred to the State Records Authority of NSW. Those record series were incorporated into the State Records series system of archives control and were re-numbered.This series was formerly part of the State Rail Archives collection where it was identified as series R167. It may have been viewed in the State Rail Archives as series R167 and could have been previously cited as such in notes by researchers at State Rail Archives or in publications or unpublished worksENDNOTES1) Public Works Act 1888, (51 Victoria No. 37) s. 122) ibid., s. 103) ibid., s. 114) ibid., ss. 13 - 15

本套已刊布的报告由新南威尔士州铁路专员公署留存备查，详细记录了议会公共工程委员会对初始估值达20000英镑的拟建铁路工程开展的调查流程。此类工程涵盖拟建铁路线路、既有线路改道与延伸工程、桥梁及其他构筑物，以及铁路基础设施的修缮与重建工作。
本批报告因议会提出将拟建公共工程移交该委员会审议的动议而编制，内容涵盖工程必要性论证；若该工程为可产生收益的设施，则同时包含其预期收益估值（1）。作为本报告编制依据的调查工作，包括实地踏勘工程场址、传讯并问询相关人员、要求提交各类账簿、地图及其他档案资料（2）。委员会的核心文献来源包括工程估算文件、设计图纸与技术规范；若为铁路线路工程，则还包括线路地图或设计图纸、参考手册（Book Reference）以及铁路专员公署提交的报告。在论证工程必要性与核算工程成本时，委员会通常会征求评估师、工程师或其他专家，以及具备当地相关知识的人员的证言（3）。
编制完成的报告提交议会后，由议会决议该工程是否推进或废止；因此此类报告被编入议会文件集，供相关方查阅。若报告被议会否决，总督若认定该工程符合公共利益，可要求重新提交审议；但其他被否决的工程，委员会在一年内不得再次予以审议（4）。

保管沿革：
1955年至2000年间，新南威尔士州铁路管理局设立了“内部档案馆”，用于保管该局、其前身机构以及政府接管的私营铁路公司的档案记录，档案时间跨度为1849年至2000年。当“州铁路档案馆”决定关停时，其中符合州档案要求的馆藏被移交至新南威尔士州档案管理局。这批档案被纳入州档案管理体系并重新编号。本系列档案原隶属于州铁路档案馆馆藏，原编号为R167。研究人员在州铁路档案馆留存的注释、已发表或未发表作品中，曾将本系列以R167编号援引。

注释：
1) 《1888年公共工程法案》（51 Victoria No. 37）第1条
2) 同上，第10条
3) 同上，第11条
4) 同上，第13-15条