East West Railway Company Ltd

The complainant has submitted three requests for information either directly or through third parties. East West Railway Company Ltd refused the requests as either vexatious for the purposes of FOIA or manifestly unreasonable for the purposes of the EIR. The Commissioner’s decision is that the requests should all have been dealt with under the EIR. EWRC has only demonstrated that the second and third requests engage Regulation 12(4)(b) of the EIR although the balance of the public interest favours maintaining this exception. EWRC has not demonstrated that the first request was manifestly unreasonable and is therefore not entitled to rely on this exception. The Commissioner requires EWRC to take the following steps to ensure compliance with the legislation. Issue a fresh response, to the first request, that does not rely on Regulation 12(4)(b) of the EIR. First-tier tribunal (General Regulatory chamber) information rights appeal EA/2022/0221 under appeal.