Section 2: Interpretation

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires-
"chairman" means the chairman of the Corporation;
"charges other than rates and fares" means demurrage, dues, fees, storage, terminals and tools and any charges, not being rates or fares, for any services performed, facility provided, penalty imposed, or license, permit or certificate granted; and for the purposes of this definition, ''terminals'' includes charges in respect of cranes, depots, sidings, stations, warehouses, wharves and other similar matters and of any services rendered thereat; customer;
"Coal Corporation" means the corporation established under the Nigerian Coal Corporation Act;
"Corporation" means the Nigerian Railway Corporation established under this Act;
"fare" means any charge for conveying passengers;
"financial year" in relation to the Corporation, means a period of twelve months beginning on 1 January in any year;
"functions" includes powers and duties;
"Gazette" means the Gazette of the Federation of Nigeria;
"general manager" means the general manager of the undertaking of the Corporation;
"goods" includes animal, whether alive or dead, luggage, merchandise, parcels, perishables, vehicles and any other movable property;
"government railway undertaking" means the undertaking conducted and maintained by the Government of the Federation under the provisions of the Railways Act;
"Inspector of Railways" means the person appointed as such under Part IX of this Act;
"luggage" means all such articles as a passenger may take with him for his personal use or convenience according to the wants or habits of the class to which he belongs, with reference either to the immediate necessity or to the ultimate purpose of the journey, but does not (except in the case of commercial travellers) include articles for business, trade or profit;
"Minister" means the Minister charged with responsibility for railways;
"motor cycle" means a motor vehicle designed to travel on not more than three wheels and having a tare weight, together with the weight of any sidecar attached thereto, not exceeding six hundred weight;
"motor vehicle" means a vehicle propelled by mechanical or electrical means contained in the vehicle, and includes a trailer designed to be attached to and drawn by such vehicle;
"National Electric Power Authority" means the National Electric Power Authority established under the National Electric Power Authority Act;
"Nigerian Ports Authority" means the authority established under the Nigerian Ports Authority Act;
"other charges" means charges other than rates and fares;
"perishables" means goods liable to rapid deterioration, and includes bread, butter, cheese, eggs, fish, fruits, game, meat, milk, plants, vegetables and any other things which may be declared by the Corporation to be perishable goods;
"railway" means any railway operated by the Corporation, and any portion thereof, for the purpose of the public carriage of passengers or goods, and includes-
(a) all land vested in or in the possession of the Corporation, for the said purpose;
(b) all lines of rail, sidings or branches worked over for or in connection with the said purpose;
(c) all hotels, offices, stations, warehouses, wharves, workshops and other premises or works whatsoever maintained or constructed for or in connection with the said purpose;
(d) all engines, fixed plant, locomotive, machinery, road vehicle and rolling stock belonging to or worked by the Corporation, for or in connection with the said purpose;
(e) all vessels and rafts used by the Corporation, for or in connection with the said purpose,
and references in this Act to a railway include, so far as the context allows, a railway under construction by or for the Corporation;
"railway land" means land vested in or in the possession of the Corporation, for the purposes of the railway;
"railway servant" means any person employed by the Corporation, in connection with the service or construction of a railway, but does not include an independent contractor;
"rate" means any charge for receiving, forwarding, conveying or delivering goods;
"route mileage" means the distance between the terminal points of main and branch lines of railway, measured along the centre line of the main or branch line, but does not include any siding;
"suit" includes action and means a civil proceeding commenced by writ or in such other manner as may be provided for in rules of court, and does not include a criminal proceeding;
''vehicle'' includes, in addition to any other vehicle defined in this section, any cart, bicycle, handcart, perambulator, rickshaw, tricycle, van or wagon and any other vehicle used or intended to be used for the conveyance of persons or goods;
"vesting day" means the day appointed by the President, under section 35 of this Act, for the purposes of that section.