Article 1. The Railway Council shall be under the supervision of the Minister of Transportation and shall inquire into and deliberate upon all matters concerning the conduct of the affairs of the Japanese Government Railways when such matters are submitted by him for deliberation. The Council may make proposals regarding the matters referred to in the foregoing paragraph to the ministers of State concerned.

Article 2. In deciding on matters itemized below, besides the matters provided for in Article 4 of the Railway Construction Law, deliberation by the Council is deemed necessary. 1. Formulation of programs for enterprise of the Japanese Government Railways and of other fundamental plans. 2. Important matters pertaining to railway fares and rates and other terms of transport. 3. Permission or otherwise pertaining to the construction not only of such lines of private railways as correspond to the scheduled railway lines inserted in the table attached to the Railway Construction Law, but also of such lines of private railways as threaten to affect seriously other railway lines or tramway lines (including those on which services are not yet in operation) to which the lines in question run close, if not parallel with them; purchase of private railways or tramways; compensation as provided for in Article 36 of the Private Railway Law or in Article 26 of the Tramway Law; and rent and trusteeship of operations concerning private railways. 4. Selection of important ferry and automobile lines operated by the State.

Article 3. The Council shall be made up of no more than 40 members.

Article 4. The members of the Council shall consist of the following: 1. No more than two officials of the Ministry of Transportation. 2. No more than four officials of other ministries concerned. 3. No more than five members of the House of Peers. 4. No more than eight members of the House of Representatives. 5. No more than twenty-one representatives nominated by the organizations specified by the Minister of Transportation. The members of the Council shall be appointed by the Cabinet, upon request of the Ministry of Transportation. The term of office of the members shall be one year, but any member may be replaced by another during his tenure of office, provided such replacement is due to some specific reason.

Article 5. The Council shall have a Chairman elected by the members from among themselves. The Chairman shall control the affairs of the Council. In the event of the Chairman being prevented from assuming his duties, one of the members elected from among themselves shall act in his place.

Article 6. The Council may, by its decision, appoint a sub-council to deal with matters coming under the purview of the Council. The Council may, by its provisions, regard the decision of the sub-council as the decision of the Council itself.

Article 7. The Council may appoint a committee of experts to investigate matters demanding technical treatment. A committee of experts shall be appointed by the Cabinet, upon the nomination of the Chairman and upon request of the Minister of Transportation.

Article 8. The Council may, when necessary, request sub-mission of data or explanations by officials of the ministries concerned.

Article 9. The cabinet shall have one chief secretary and a number of other secretaries to the Council. The chief secretary and other secretaries shall be appointed by the Cabinet upon request of the Minister of Transportation. The chief secretary shall supervise, by order of the Chairman, the conduct of the general affairs of the Council. The secretaries shall conduct the gene ral affairs of the Council under the direc tions of the Chairman and the chief secretary.

Article 10. The Council shall have a number of clerks. The clerks shall be appointed by the Minister of Transportation. The clerks shall engage in the conduct of the general affairs under the directions of the Council secretaries.