Southern / Govia Thameslink Railways - ongoing disputes

[whole diary]

[broadgage]

The rail minister, Ms. Perry has just resigned.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-36805973

No reason has been given, but one might reasonably speculate that the ongoing Southern fiasco might have something to do with it !

The rail minister has previously stated that they did NOT believe that resigning would help, though admitting that the Southern GTR fiasco "looked like a failure"

EDIT to correct misleading typo by inserting NOT

[paul7575]

The rail minister has previously stated that they did NOT believe etc

...according to the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page).

Paul

[broadgage]

The rail minister has previously stated that they did NOT believe etc

...according to the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page).

Paul

Thanks, I have now edited to remove the misleading typo.

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

Southern rail dispute: Rail minister says government could broker talks


Brighton station was closed on Tuesday evening to help ease overcrowding after a points failure caused more delays

New rail minister Paul Maynard has said the government will consider brokering talks between Southern and the RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) union to try to end their dispute.

Passengers have suffered months of delays, cancellations and a reduced timetable amid staff shortages and strike action by conductors.

Mr Maynard said the current level of service was "unacceptable".

It comes as London mayor Sadiq Khan reiterated his call for Transport for London to take over the franchise.

In a letter to new Transport Secretary Chris Grayling, Mr Khan said: "There is no doubt that the franchise must now be in default, and I have previously called for your department to step in and take control. Notwithstanding the wider discussions on devolution, I now offer to go one step further and put my senior TfL^» (Transport for London - about) (Transport for London) team in charge of the Southern franchise until we get a permanent resolution."

RMT general secretary Mike Cash said: "Passengers and staff alike are being held hostage by this failed rail operation and the silence from the new team at the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) (Department for Transport) is deafening."

Mr Cash added that there had to be "urgent action" to remove Govia Thameslink Railway, the company that owns Southern, and bring in Directly Operated Railways (a holding company set up by the DfT to run rail franchises deemed to need to be publicly owned) "before there is a major disaster".

But Mr Maynard told a Transport Select Committee hearing: "Simply changing the management will not help because that would not address the issues in dispute and would only cause further disruption."


Southern and the RMT are in dispute over the introduction of driver-only trains on which guards will no longer open and close doors

Southern and the RMT are in dispute about plans for drivers, rather than guards, to open and close carriage doors.

At the hearing, committee member Huw Merriman MP^▸ (Member of Parliament) - who uses Southern trains to commute to Parliament - said the union wanted guarantees from the government over the long-term job security of guards, which Southern could not provide past the end of its current franchise. He said it was "gobsmacking" that the DfT had not held talks with both parties recently, and called for it to sit down with them and "be part of that effort to bring a resolution".

Mr Maynard replied: "I certainly would not rule that out. I will take advice and, where we can, seek to do that."

Southern has apologised for the disruption.

[TonyK]

This dispute has the markings of a proxy war between the unions, who know they are on reasonably solid ground, and the government in the shape of a highly paid civil servant who seems to have made it his life's mission to solve a major problem that didn't exist before he was appointed (at well over the Prime Minister's salary).

A golden opportunity exists for the new transport minister to sort this out, and gain major kudos for both himself and his party. A further opportunity exists for the Brighton line to become a new "Miners' Strike". I hope common sense prevails.

[chrisr_75]

This dispute has the markings of a proxy war between the unions, who know they are on reasonably solid ground, and the government in the shape of a highly paid civil servant who seems to have made it his life's mission to solve a major problem that didn't exist before he was appointed (at well over the Prime Minister's salary).

A golden opportunity exists for the new transport minister to sort this out, and gain major kudos for both himself and his party. A further opportunity exists for the Brighton line to become a new "Miners' Strike". I hope common sense prevails.

I can see how the government could perhaps want this to become another miners strike as they may have ambitions to attempt to weaken one of the more militant and disruptive sections of the union movement.