Meanwhile, the Southern Rail Industrial Dispute...

Two days ago, rail workers from the RMT union (more stoppage days coming up in May!), commuters' representatives and disability campaigners held a protest outside the Houses of Parliament; see BBC Report. This marked the anniversary of 2 years of industrial action and campaigning against Southern Railway wanting trains staffed only by drivers, and at the behest of the Department of Transport!

Meanwhile, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has slammed the "broken model of rail franchising" lauded by the Government and the Transport Minister, Chris Grayling! The PAC Report slams the Government's (mis) management of two of the rail franchises, our very own Govia Thameslink franchise running Southern (and Thameslink and Great Northern) and the privatised, renationalised because it was failing and then making money whilst nationalised, then sold off and now failing again under the franchise system, the East Coast franchise! 

The Chair of the PAC, Meg Hillier said "the Government appears to have seen its task as simply to contract out the service, with wholly inadequate consideration given to passengers' best interests... The franchising model is broken and passengers are paying the price." See the PAC Report at the Parliament website for more.

Couldn't agree more Meg, amen to that!

Railway Operator and DfT slammed by NAO!

You won't be surprised that Govia Thamelink, who run Southern Railway, has the most delayed and disrupted trains in Britain, three times worse than the average on the rest of the railways. The heaviest-used sections Govia run are on Southern. The lines from Sussex constitute four-fifths of their operations, with around three-quarter of a million journeys made each day, sometimes.

Travellers have spent £3.6 billion on tickets over the past three years, of which around one-fifth has been pocketed by the DfT. Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR), the franchise holder, has so far lost over £5m on the troubled contract. The National Audit Office (NAO) report on the franchise finds it had “not delivered value for money”. On average commuters have found one in 13 trains either cancelled or so late (over half-an-hour).

Many cancellations were the result of staff shortages, partly because of the ongoing industrial dispute, we have been suffering. The Department for Transport (DfT) had wanted the extension of 'Driver Only' trains, expecting Govia to do its dirty work, but the NAO report says it had failed to “fully evaluate the possible effects on passengers of different scenarios of industrial action before awarding the contract”.

This dispute is now in its third calendar year; the latest stoppage in this long and bitter conflict took place on Monday for Southern, but other services in other parts of the country will have more industrial action today and on Sunday. Even if the franchise had enjoyed no industrial action, it would still have had staffing issues: Govia had begun with an insufficient number of drivers to operate published timetables. The NAO asserts that before awarding the contract, the DfT failed to “seek sufficient assurance that Govia Thameslink would have enough train drivers when it took on the franchise.”

The report adds: “The Department and Network Rail did not have a good understanding of the underlying condition of the existing network at the point when the Department set the requirements of the franchise. 

If there is any comfort for the very long-suffering commuters, it is that occasional travellers from London Victoria to Gatwick airport fared even worse than the rest of the franchise. More than a quarter of Gatwick Express trains have been more than five minutes late over the past three years. And that is despite a one-way fare for the 28-mile journey of £19.90, more than the price of the plane ticket for some."

The NAO concludes: “When designing future franchise contracts, the Department should give more consideration to the potential impact on passengers of its decisions.”

There's a surprise, not.

And yet more rail chaos coming! Hmmm...

Do you want to catch one of these trains on either the 3rd or 5th of October 2017? Well, you may not be able too, because, have a guess what?!? Yep, conductors, supported by the RMT union, are going on strike again... Why? Because they believe that trains, including 8 and 12 carriage trains, should have more than just one member of staff on board, and Southern Railway, ie the franchise owned by Govia Thameslink, think they only need one member of staff on board, and they are supported by the Government, and by taxpayers' money which funds the Government's battle against the unions (including the drivers' union Aslef)! More at this website.

Dear oh dear, when will we get a decent rail service?

Southern Rail Dispute Rumbles On...

Yesterday, Aslef (the drivers union) started their work to rule/overtime ban, the management estimated about 75% of Southern trains should have run, though expect that figure to become worse, especially later in the day, as the dispute continues. 

The legal case for a judicial review put by the Association of British Commuters (ABC) was rejected by the judge, though, on the understanding that the Transport Minister, Grayling, make a ruling on the case within 2 weeks; see Guardian website.

As I said recently (blog), seconds out! 

Meanwhile, a South Eastern Railway Consultation

Whilst Southern Railway still remain in negotiation with the RMT, the Department for Transport (DfT) is asking passengers of South Eastern Railway their views on the next franchise of that rail service. Incidentally, South Eastern are bringing in a further price increase from the 21st of May 2017, that is a 3.4% increase to fares, or at least 10p.

If you wish to add your opinions to the DfT  franchise public consultation, which closes at 11.45pm on the 23rd of May 2017, go to their website.

Southern Railway: Campaigners apply for Judicial Review!

Campaigners have applied for a judicial review into the government's handling of the Southern fiasco. Govia Thameslink (GTR) took on the Southern rail franchise in 2015 and its contract with the Department for Transport (DfT) runs for another 4 years! 

As I have regularly reported, there has been an industrial dispute with the RMT (conductors) getting on for a year, and now with the drivers union, Aslef, too. The Transport for All campaign group asserts that the Government should have done more to ease disruption; but, as I have regularly reported, the Government is funding GTR to beat the trade unions. A Department for Transport spokesperson said they are unable to comment while legal proceedings are ongoing. 

Transport for All, which campaigns for travellers with disabilities and older travellers, has joined the Association of British Commuters in requesting that a Judicial Review be held into the Department's handling of the Southern Railway dispute with the unions, particularly in respect to the impact on older travellers and travellers with disabilities. The Association of British Commuters has already applied for a review in January and is awaiting a decision from the Royal Court of Justice. 

A spokesperson for the campaign asserted: "Accessible public transport is a lifeline to inclusion for many disabled people who disproportionally rely on it to go about their everyday lives. The Southern rail crisis caused disruption and misery to disabled and older people, leaving many unable to travel to work and increasingly isolated. Yet throughout the strikes the DfT has remained silent." 

A spokesperson for Southern Railway said: "We aim to give excellent assistance and are very sorry to hear about these passenger experiences. Over 440,000 journeys were made on Southern with disability railcards last year and only a tiny fraction resulted in a complaint that assistance was not provided. We regularly carry out call-back surveys with disabled passengers and 'mystery shop' so that we can look at what we can change to improve."  

For more information see the Disability News Service website.