Train companies are set to face a review over how they prosecute and enforce rail fare evasion after reports of disproportionate action taken against passengers. Sky News understands Transport Secretary Louise Haigh will ask the Office of Rail and Road, the government department responsible for the economic and safety regulation of Britain's railways and motorways, to examine how fare evasion is dealt with.
In August, a court ruling found four train companies, including Northern Rail and Greater Anglia, brought prosecutions against thousands of passengers using the single justice procedure , despite not being permitted to do so. SJP allowed firms to fast-track prosecutions and pursue them behind closed doors after it was introduced in 2015 for minor offences in magistrates' courts.