More than 28,000 prosecutions brought by two rail firms for alleged fare evasion have been quashed.
Northern Rail brought 28,631 prosecutions against passengers between August 2020 and May 2024 and TransPennine Express brought 41 in January 2024, both using the single justice procedure (SJP).
On Thursday they were declared unlawful as the operators were not permitted to use the SJP.
Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring announced his ruling in a two-minute hearing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court.
SJP was introduced in 2015 for minor offences in magistrates’ courts, such as using a television without a licence or driving without car insurance, without defendants going to court.
It aimed to allow firms to fast-track prosecutions and pursue them behind closed doors.
Rail companies were permitted to use the procedure in 2016 to privately prosecute fare evaders, but many have been brought under the Regulation of Railways Act 1889, which is not allowed under the procedure.
Northern Rail covers large parts of northern England, while TransPennine Express operates in the North of England and in Scotland.
In August, Mr Goldspring ruled that six “test cases” of prosecutions for alleged fare evasion brought by train companies should be declared a “nullity”, adding that others would be dealt with in the same way.
Judge Goldspring said then the exact number of SJP prosecutions was unknown, but was most likely “over 74,000”.
Avanti West Coast, Greater Anglia, Great Western Railway, Arriva Rail Northern, Merseyrail and C2C were also involved and further hearings will take place, the Courts and Tribunals Service said.
The department said those affected by the ruling were prosecuted after 2018, with the “vast majority” of cases prosecuted from 2020, under either section 5(1) or section 5(3) of the Regulation of Railways Act 1889.
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Anyone affected should wait to be contacted directly by the Courts and Tribunals Service about their case, including if they have paid a financial penalty.
Both firms apologised and said they were “committed to ensuring that all our customers are treated fairly, which means ensuring all passengers who board our trains have a valid ticket”.
