Record £5m fine for rail chaos firm

TRAIN operator Govia Thameslink was fined a record £5million yesterday after its chaotic introduction of a new timetable left thousands of commuters stranded.

The company failed to warn passengers about severe disruption caused by the changes to Thameslink and Great Northern routes.

The disastrous launch of the timetable last May saw some trains permanently removed from service. Watchdog the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) said this was not made clear for several weeks and Govia ‘failed to provide appropriate, accurate and timely information’ to passengers.

Huge numbers of trains were delayed and cancelled but station staff were left with ‘little or no information’ to help customers.

Govia cancelled as many as 470 trains a day in the eight weeks following the timetable launch. Embattled Transport Secretary Chris Grayling, the train operator and Network Rail were criticised publicly for the chaos.

Stephanie Tobyn of the ORR said: ‘The disruption experienced by many passengers as a result of the May timetable introduction was awful. When disruption happens, poor quality information makes an already difficult and frustrating situation worse.’

Patrick Verwer, chief executive of Govia Thameslink, said it was ‘disappointed’ by the decision.

He added that the firm – which raked in £1.3billion in the year to July 2017 – paid £18million in compensation to customers and is investing £15million in improvements. Govia now has 21 days to respond to the penalty notice.