Passengers who rely on assistance when travelling with Northern Trains should see improvements over time after the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) secured commitments from the operator to strengthen disability awareness training and introduce a £550,000 package of additional measures.
The regulator launched an investigation after Northern reported in August 2025 that around 800 passenger-facing staff had not received disability awareness training, raising concerns about the operator’s compliance with its licence obligations.
ORR found significant historic gaps in training for station staff, alongside weaknesses in management oversight and record keeping. Northern has since taken steps to address the issue, including a programme of training carried out during autumn 2025 to substantially reduce the gap.
Further improvements are now under way, with most actions expected to be completed by the end of March 2026. The regulator has also accepted Northern’s additional package of measures, which will focus primarily on strengthening disability awareness training across the organisation.
The ORR said it would continue to work with Northern Trains on the detail of the measures and monitor delivery closely. The operator will remain in breach of its licence obligations until the regulator is satisfied the training gap has been fully resolved and the improvement plan implemented.
Stephanie Tobyn, ORR’s Director of Strategy, Policy and Reform, said:
“Our investigation found that Northern Trains failed to meet its public commitment to provide training to existing staff at least every two years, falling short of the basic standard of service that disabled passengers rely on. Staff training is essential to delivering an accessible railway, and the failings we identified highlight the need for strong management oversight and accountability.
“Northern Trains has, however, acknowledged these failings, taken steps to address them, and committed to further improvements and reparations that should make a meaningful difference for passengers. Securing lasting changes to training, governance and passenger support will deliver greater public benefit than us imposing a financial penalty, and we will continue to monitor Northern Trains closely to ensure these commitments are fully delivered.”
ORR will review Northern’s progress and publish an update after July 2026, assessing whether the operator has fully delivered the required improvements to staff training and accessibility support for passengers.
