I would imagine it’s because the offence is imprisonable, and as such the SJP can’t be used.
I'm going to stick my neck out here, sp and suggest you may not be correct. And that's as strong as I'm going to put it for fear of reprisals!
Here's the Chief Magistrate's ruling:
https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Railway-Ruling-Final-Judgment.pdfIt's a lengthy read, but the essence of it can be boiled down to this:
"21. It follows that Railway Operators are only empowered to institute proceedings by way of a written charge and Single Justice Procedure Notice for the limited number of offences defined by the 2016 Order as “railways offences”. That does not include offences contrary to section 5(1) or 5(3) of the RRA. Prosecution of those offences should not have taken place using the Single Justice Procedure."In short, offences under those two sections of the RRA were not included in the list of "railway offences" which railway operators could prosecute via the SJP.
However....offences under s5(3)
do carry a custodial sentence (maximum 3 months) so they would be ruled out of the SJP anyway. But those under s5(1) can only be dealt with by way of a fine (Level 2).
Of course it may be that neither was included in the 2016 order precisely because one of them was imprisonable so as to avoid any confusion, in which case you can claim victory (sort of). That's why I wouldn't put my opening remark too strongly!
