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.

Hastings Rail Summit

I found this piece, and photograph, on the BBC South East page, otherwise I haven't found anything else about the Rail Summit on Friday, yet! Our MP Amber Rudd plus...

"The rail minister, Paul Maynard was also at the public event, together with Hew Merriman, the MP for Bexhill and Battle, and bosses of Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR).

The 18-month-long dispute between Southern, owned by GTR, which has cost the South East's economy around £350m, was raised at the meeting.

Mr Maynard responded: "Ever since I took on the role as rail minister I have been apologising to passengers for the inadequate service they have been experiencing, but since the start of the dispute we have seen big improvements in GTR's performance."

Amber Rudd, who is also the Hastings and Rye MP, said she was "impatient" about getting faster rail services for her constituency, but was "realistic" about getting things to happen." 

OK, a couple of comments, and it's a shame I couldn't be there on Friday, but... first, this has been an 18 month dispute, which could have been sorted out last year but for political interference as I've said a few times, and all Maynard can say is he's been apologising, which doesn't actually sort out the problem, that is (his) Government interference! Oh yes, and he says that performance has improved, but that's only because they've changed the timetable, with journeys taking longer, and they run fewer trains with fewer carriages... so that's an improvement?!?

If anyone did go to the Rail Summit, please contribute, many thanks!

Southern Railway Strike today and on Monday

RMT union Conductors are walking out on strike again today, Friday 1st September, and on Monday 4th September, in their long dispute (I've written many blogs over the past year plus!) with Southern Railway/Govia Thameslink. For details of alternative travel arrangements organised by Southern, who believe most trains on their rearranged timetable will be running, can be found at their website.

Incidentally, there are similar strikes with Arriva Rail North and Merseyrail too.

Southern Rail? Yes, more strikes planned!

Conductors on Southern Railway, as well as on Arriva Rail North and Merseyrail, are planning to strike on Friday the 1st and Monday the 4th of September (Merseyrail workers will also be walking out on Sunday the 3rd of September).

The action still relates to planned changes to give drivers more responsibility, opening and closing the doors of train carriages, with some services staffed only by a sole member of staff, the driver, as Southern and their Govia Thameslink owners, seek to gradually dispense of guards on trains. 

The RMT general secretary Mick Cash asserts that the conductors' union, the RMT, is "bitterly disappointed that Southern Rail have rejected our call for round-table discussions involving all parties with an interest in resolving this dispute. The failure to get those talks moving following our face-to-face meeting with Transport Secretary Chris Grayling has left us no option but to call further action." 

Southern Rail have, apparently, made no comment on the announcement, and no notice of these days of industrial action is mentioned on their website to date. Meanwhile, there is no obvious news of the train drivers' union, Aslef, returning to industrial action, yet... See BBC website.

Will we ever get a decent service from Hastings? 

Southern Railway: Good News?!?

The three strike days at the beginning of August planned by Aslef, and their 'work to rule', and the RMT's one planned strike day, have all been called off following "constructive talks" with the Government! I've regularly said that the Southern Railway industrial action is all about political interference by the Government and it's taken over a year for this to be potentially sorted out, by the Government, maybe... See, for example, my latest blog on the subject.

Transport Secretary, Chris Grayling MP, said "We're doing everything we can to resolve the situation... and get passengers the high quality rail services that they deserve." Whilst Aslef appear less positive, though did say the talks were "proactive" and that "Further talks are planned with both the company (Govia/Southern) and then the minister." So, 'monkey' first, and then talk to the 'organ grinder.' See BBC. 

I'd suggest, wait and see...

Added since, now the RMT have "full and frank" talks, their general secretary, Mick Cash stating that the Transport Secretary has a "clear understanding of the RMT position, Grayling said "We want more people helping passengers... not fewer." For more information see BBC.

£6.6billion worth of contracts!?!

"The winners of £6.6bn worth of contracts to build the first phase of HS2 between London and Birmingham have been announced by the government." See BBC: £6.6BILLION!!!! All this money being offered out to tender by the Government, and they can't even run a decent rail service on the already existing routes of Southern Railway, I'm dismayed! 

It certainly is time to take the franchise away from Southern/Govia, and to nationalise our local line, if not all the railway companies!

The Southern Railway Fiasco Trundles On!

The Department for Transport (DfT) has announced that the owners of Southern Railway, Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR), have been fined £13.4m for poor performance, explaining that the fine would have been higher, but most delays had not been the fault of the railway company! The transport secretary, Chris Grayling said that the £13.4m was to be spent on performance and passenger improvements, including £4m to fund 50 on-board supervisors over the next two years, adding that passengers had "been badly let down." Indeed, the train operator now runs only three-quarters of the trains that were run a year ago by Southern!

The Association of British Commuters (ABC) had taken legal action seeking a judicial review, as detailed in a previous blog. They had argued that ministers had acted unlawfully by failing to determine whether managers had breached franchise obligations. However, Mr Justice Ouseley said he would not grant a judicial review on the understanding that Mr Grayling would come to a decision over the Southern rail crisis by 13 July, well, he's come to a decision! Emily Yates, of ABC, said the fine "doesn't really touch the sides of this whole issue. This is a token £13.4m fine presented as an improvement package." See report.

However, the drivers' union, Aslef, continues with its own 'work to rule' or overtime ban, and, following a vote of all members, has called for strikes on Tuesday 1st, Wednesday 2nd, and Friday 4th of August 2017; see report. 

So, the Government, which has been funding Southern/GTR's escalating industrial conflict with the drivers' and conductors' unions, Aslef and the RMT, 'fines' the company, but gives the money back to them for 'performance and passenger improvements.' No solution has been found to ABC's assertion that the company has continued to 'breach franchise obligations' and Grayling retains his job, as do GTR retain the franchise. Meanwhile, customers who use Southern Railway, when possible, continue to receive a worsening service...

It's time to sack the Transport Secretary, who obviously cannot do his job without politically interfering in the industrial conflict, thus making it worse, and it's time to take the franchise away from GTR and re-nationalise Southern Railway, and quickly please!

Southern Railway: Is a compromise possible?

The RMT (conductors union) are putting forward a proposal to try to make a compromise with Govia Thameslink, the company who run Southern Railway at the moment, and are meeting with Members of Parliament for support of their proposal. The RMT general secretary Mick Cash said: "We will be telling MPs that we are hoping the company will reconsider our proposal for a trial six-month period of an accessibility guarantee... We would hope that they would agree to this sensible proposal as the Association of Train Operating Companies consultant's report has said train companies should guarantee a second person to comply with their legal obligations."

RMT members on Southern will stage a fresh strike next Monday, while Aslef (the drivers) continue with their 'work to rule', ie not working overtime.

See BBC website for more.

Rail Chaos, will it ever end?!?

Now, members of the Aslef union (drivers on Southern Railway) will refuse to work overtime from the end of May. The union asserts that "Southern has refused to budge in talks on the introduction of driver-only-operated trains." This will mean more cancellations and train delays, as there are not enough drivers working on Southern, consequently, timetables are only managed by drivers working overtime...

Aslef announced the latest development in the year-long dispute after the most recent talks with Southern and its parent company Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) broke down on Tuesday. If you can bear to read anymore about this, go to the BBC website. 

Oh dear...