London mayor Sadiq Khan has called on ministers to strip Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) of the Southern part of its huge franchise to end the ‘unceasing misery’ experienced by passengers.
Mr Khan has urged the Department for Transport (DfT) to take temporary responsibility for operation of Southern rail services and asked it to work with his officials on putting in place ‘a speedier timetable’ for the transfer of suburban rail services to Transport for London.
London mayor Sadiq Khan
He said: ‘I am appalled by the unceasing misery that Southern Rail has inflicted on tens of thousands of passengers, and I share their outrage at the lack of action to address it.
'Passengers are paying thousands of pounds for a service that rather than being “turn up and go” has become “turn up and hope”. Their frustration at such a disgraceful level of service is obvious and it is justified.
‘This utter mess is now an embarrassment to our city, it is an insult to hard-working Londoners who pay their fares and it must be fixed. That is why I am calling on the Government to strip Southern of its franchise and take over the temporary responsibility of running these services.’
He added: ‘My team is ready and willing to work with the Government on transferring responsibility for [inner suburban rail services] to Transport for London in a far speedier fashion.’
City Hall cited previous examples of rail operators being stripped of franchises, as well as the situation that arose in 2009, when National Express East Coast said it would default on the East Coast Mainline franchise, after which the DfT established a publicly-owned company to take over the franchise.
Last week, Andy McDonald, Labour’s shadow transport secretary, called for ministers to strip GTR of its franchise and run its services in the public sector.
In a radio interview on Monday, rail minister Claire Perry again made clear that the Government does not plan to take the franchise away from GTR.
A Southern spokesman refused to be drawn on 'arguments about political control' including questions over whether the GTR franchise, the largest in the country, should be broken up.
‘Our focus is resolving the immediate issues to restore the service that passengers rightly expect,' they said.
‘We apologise unreservedly to passengers for the quality of service they’re presently experiencing. We are committed to a long-term franchise, reporting to the Department for Transport.’
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