Four train operating companies wrongly used the ‘single justice procedure’ (SJP) to prosecute offences contrary to section 5(1) or 5(3) of the Regulation of the Railways Act 1889.

The SJP, introduced in 2015, allows magistrates to make decisions in cases involving certain low-level summary offences without a court hearing taking place.

While some railway offences can be prosecuted under the SJP, the s.5(1) and s.5(3) offences cannot.

Finding that the prosecutions “should not have taken place using the single justice procedure”, chief magistrate Paul Goldpsring yesterday declared all of the cases void ab initio.

Westminster Magistrates’ Court was hearing six test cases involving Greater Anglia and Northern Trains, which admitted their error in bringing unlawful prosecutions.

Up to £30 million in fines is expected to be returned over the coming months to individuals who were unlawfully prosecuted.