‘Decision soon’ on rail firm behind travel chaos

A DECISION on the future of Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) will be made “within a small number of weeks”, Transport Secretary Chris Grayling has said.

He told the Commons’ Transport Select Committee that removing GTR’s franchise to operate trains in south-east England due to the chaotic introduction of new timetables is “certainly an option that is still open to us”.

But he warned that the legal advice he has received in relation to such a decision “is not absolutely clear”, adding that the Government does not have the right to end contracts “because of poor performance over a short period of time”.

The Department for Transport (DfT) has been analysing what action to take in response to GTR’s contribution to the major disruption which hit its Thameslink and Great Northern routes this summer.

The committee asked Mr Grayling whether the department’s decision last year to agree a £13.4m settlement with the operator to cover poor performance between September 2015 to September 2018 meant it could not be fined over the new timetables.

“I’ve still got plenty of levers that I can use,” the Transport Secretary insisted, adding: “There’s no question of getting off scot free.”

He told the committee a decision will be made “within a small number of weeks”.

The May timetable change was intended to deliver huge benefits to passengers as a result of major upgrades to the network, but instead services were crippled in the north and south-east of England.

GTR and Northern cancelled up to 470 and 310 trains respectively each day during the disruption, which lasted several weeks.

An investigation into the chaos is being carried out by rail regulator the Office of Rail and Road.