Guidance

Appeal a train driving licence decision

Published 22 February 2024

Applies to England, Scotland and Wales

You have the right to appeal to the Secretary of State for Transport against certain decisions taken by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) regarding your train driving licence.

You can appeal a decision if:

• your application for a licence or its update, renewal or duplication is not granted
• your existing licence is suspended or withdrawn
• you are prohibited from driving a train in Great Britain

This guidance explains the circumstances when these decisions might be taken, how you can appeal these decisions and what to expect during the appeal process.

All references to ‘operators’ mean railway undertakings or infrastructure managers.

Obtaining a train driving licence

To drive a train on the mainline railway in Great Britain, you must have a valid train driving licence and train driving certificate.

This is set out in The Train Driving Licences and Certificates Regulations (TDLCR) 2010 (as amended).

TDLCR establishes certain conditions that must be met before ORR can issue a licence. A train driving licence can only be issued if an applicant has:

• attained the age of 20 years
• completed at least 9 years of education (primary and secondary)
• successfully completed the vocational training required to become a train driver
• passed the required medical examination
• passed the required occupational psychological fitness examination
• passed the required general professional competence examination

ORR, as Great Britain’s rail safety regulator and the licensing authority for train driving licences, is responsible for establishing that applicants meet these conditions.

Operators are responsible for ensuring that they do not deploy a person to drive a train unless that person has a licence issued by ORR and that they have a valid train driving certificate.

If ORR is not satisfied that an applicant fully meets all the conditions required for holding a licence, it will not grant the applicant a licence. See further guidance about obtaining a licence, including meeting these conditions.

Where a train driver applies to have their licence updated or renewed, or for a duplicate licence, and ORR is not satisfied that they fully meet the conditions required for holding the licence, it may refuse to update or renew the train driving licence or issue a duplicate licence.

Ongoing monitoring of a licence

After a train driving licence has been issued by ORR, the ongoing monitoring of whether train drivers are continuing to meet the conditions is the responsibility of the operator (the driver’s employer).

If this monitoring calls into question the continuing validity of the driver’s licence, fitness to drive or compliance with the periodic examination requirements, the employer must immediately take any necessary action, which may include:

• informing ORR of matters relevant to the continuing validity of the licence
• requiring the train driver to undergo the relevant examinations or tests referred to in regulations 13 or 15 of TDLCR
• suspending or withdrawing the train driver’s train driving certificate

The driver’s employer should notify ORR of matters that come to their attention that bring into question the:

• continuing validity of the driver’s train driving licence
• driver’s fitness or compliance with the periodic examination requirements

Based on this, and any further information (including any information supplied directly to ORR by the train driver), ORR will consider whether any action is required.

If ORR decides it is no longer satisfied that the train driver meets the required conditions for holding a licence, it may either suspend or withdraw the licence.

ORR has produced further guidance about the circumstances in which suspending or withdrawing a licence will be considered.

Appealing against a decision on your licence

Train drivers have the right to appeal against certain decisions made by ORR about their licence. The decisions that can be appealed to the Secretary of State for Transport are if:

• the licence application is not granted
• the application to update, renew or duplicate your existing licence is not granted
• the licence is suspended or withdrawn
• you are prohibited from driving a train in Great Britain

The Secretary of State for Transport may direct that an appeal be determined on behalf of the train driver if appropriate.

Conditions for appealing ORR decisions

DfT cannot consider an appeal until all relevant internal appeal procedures with your employer have been followed and concluded.

If a case arises where a claim is being made to an Employment Tribunal, in addition to an appeal to the Secretary of State for Transport in accordance with TDLCR, DfT will consider the circumstances on a case-by-case basis and may decide to hear the licence appeal after the outcome of the Employment Tribunal case is known.

Submitting an appeal

If you have read the sections above and still wish to submit an appeal to DfT, you should include all details regarding the case, including:

• background to the case
• details of the incident(s) involved
• copies of hearing or appeal minutes
• copies of relevant communications with ORR
• any other documentation that you consider relevant

Upon request, ORR can provide copies of the information it considered when reaching a decision about your licence. This can be provided directly to you or your authorised representative.

More detail on the information to include can be found in the application form.

The appeal should be sent by email to rail.safety@dft.gov.uk.

Alternatively, it can be posted to:

Secretary of State for Transport
Rail Safety Team
Zone 1, 2nd Floor
Great Minster House
33 Horseferry Road
London SW1P 4DR

What happens during the appeal process

Once the appeal has been received, we will write to you to let you know the next steps.

If we conclude that the application for an appeal is outside the remit of these regulations, we will write to you to explain the reason(s) and that the appeal process will end.

Before the determination of an appeal, we will ask the appellant, and the ORR against whose decision the appeal is brought, whether they wish to appear and be heard on the appeal.

An appeal may be determined without a hearing of the parties if both parties express a wish not to appear and be heard.

If either of the parties expresses a wish to appear and be heard, we will afford all parties involved an opportunity to do so.

In most circumstances, the Secretary of State for Transport will, having regard to the nature of the questions which appear to the Secretary of State to arise, direct that an appeal will be determined on behalf of the Secretary of State by a person appointed by the Secretary of State for that purpose.

You may be asked to provide further information considered relevant to the appeal, such as, but not limited to:

• evidence that the correct processes were not followed, as set out in TDLCR
• contextual information relevant to your appeal, such as whether critical safety duties were being performed at the time

This list is not exhaustive and any other information that may be required to enable the person determining the appeal to fully consider the issues raised by the appeal may be requested.

Once all the required information is gathered, DfT or the person appointed to determine the appeal will write to you and ORR to ask if either party wishes to be heard at an appeal hearing (if you have not already indicated this).

If either party confirms they would like to be heard, both parties will be advised of the date, time and place for the hearing. A minimum of 42 days’ notice will be given to both parties of a hearing date unless otherwise agreed. These hearings may take place virtually if agreed by the parties, but this is at the discretion of the person appointed to determine the appeal.

Prior to the hearing, both parties must send any written statement of submissions and any other documentation they wish to rely upon 28 days in advance of the hearing. The submission and any such documentation should be sent by each party to the other and to the Secretary of State for Transport. Any documents or evidence the parties wish to serve in reply to the written statements must be served 14 days thereafter in the same manner.

The hearing will be conducted in accordance with the Tribunals and Inquiries Act 1992 and according to the rules set out in The Health and Safety Licensing Appeals (Hearings Procedure) Rules 1974 (S.I. 1974/2040).

What happens after an appeal hearing

After a hearing has been held, a decision will be made based on the evidence provided and we will write to both parties to communicate the outcome of the appeal and any next steps, if relevant.

The Secretary of State for Transport’s decision, or a decision made by a person on their behalf, is final. However, if either party wishes to challenge the decision of the Secretary of State, they may do so by way of judicial review.