All aboard: CAT certifies London to Brighton line CPO

26/07/22

The Competition Appeal Tribunal has certified an opt-out CPO against Govia Thameslink Railway Ltd.

Govia issued and continue to issue on services on the London to Brighton train line branded fares permitting travel on a single branded train service at a lower price than fares permitting travel on multiple, differently branded, train services. It is alleged that this discrimination between Single-Brand Tickets and Multi-Brand Tickets is contrary to regulatory requirements and constitutes an abuse of a dominant position. The claim is estimated as some hundreds of million pounds.

Govia argued that the claim failed to satisfy any of the authorisation condition, the eligibility condition or the suitability condition under the statute. After a three-day hearing, each of these arguments was rejected by the CAT in turn.

The decision holds (again, contrary to Govia’s submission) that there is nothing in the statute or Rules which prohibits the tribunal authorising two class representatives rather than one, although the CAT held that a second PCR was unnecessary in the present case. The CAT also cautioned against the need for the Applicants to deal with in their application matters which only arose when pleaded by the Respondents, such as questions of set-off.

The judgment is here.