CRB ~ Rail Freight Claims
We handle claims in relation to rail incidents across the world, including recent instructions on rail accidents involving cargo damage in the USA, Argentina and Australia.
Carriage of Goods by Rail Law
CIM is an abbreviation of
the
“Convention Internationale Concernant le Transport des
Marchandises per Chemin de Fer” and is referred to as the
Uniform
Rules. They were formulated to provide uniformity in Europe for rail
transport just as the CMR conditions were to provide standardisation
for road carriage.
The
UK acceded to COTIF in 1952. The
provisions of CIM 1970 were not given force of law in the UK as no
legislation was passed but in 1980 the Convention concerning carriage
by rail (COTIF) was signed and subsequently was given force of law by
virtue of the International Transport Conventions Act 1983 which came
into effect two years later. OTIF is an abbreviation of the
“Organisation intergouvernmentale pour les transports
internationaux ferroviaires”.
The
basic provisions were that the
railway which has accepted goods for carriage with the consignment note
shall be responsible for the carriage over the entire route up to
delivery. Each succeeding railway, by the very act of taking over the
goods with the consignment note, shall become a party to the contract
of carriage in accordance with the terms of that document. Compensation
shall not exceed 17 units of account per kilogramme of gross mass
short. The railway shall in addition refund carriage charges, Customs
duties and other amounts incurred in connection with carriage of lost
goods. Collective responsibility of railways has been maintained
despite the legislative changes.