Passengers who rely on assistance when travelling with Northern Trains should see improvements to the service over time, after the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) secured commitments from the operator to ensure staff receive disability awareness training and to provide a £550,000 additional package of measures.
Northern Trains is currently working on resolving the concerns about their failure to provide disability awareness training for front-line staff, highlighted by the regulator’s investigation, with most of these improvements expected to be completed by the end of March 2026.
ORR also accepted the operator’s package of additional measures, which are predominantly targeted at further improving disability awareness training. The rail regulator said it would work with Northern Trains on the detail of the measures, worth an estimated £550,000.
ORR’s investigation was prompted by ongoing concerns about the operator’s compliance with commitments to provide passenger-facing staff with disability awareness training. The issue was identified when Northern Trains reported in August 2025 that around 800 of its passenger-facing staff had not received disability awareness training.
In the course of ORR’s investigation, the regulator established there were significant historic gaps in training for Northern Trains’ passenger-facing station staff, with inadequate management oversight and record-keeping. ORR noted that Northern took steps to significantly close the training gap in Autumn 2025.
Northern Trains’ breach of its licence obligations is considered ongoing until there is assurance that the training gap is fully resolved and the improvement plan is delivered. ORR will report on Northern’s progress after the end of July 2026.
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.”
Image credit: Northern
