Industrial action unexpected in TSGN franchise bidding
Department for Transport Permanent Secretary Bernadette Kelly told the Public Accounts Committee inquiry into rail franchising that the amount of industrial action had been greater than expected following the wider introduction of DriverControlled Operation trains on the Thameslink, Southern, Great Northern (TSGN) franchise.
“Obviously, industrial action on the railway is not unprecedented, and from that point of view it was clearly a risk that we thought about,” she said.
“But we had good reasons at the point at which we were designing and letting the franchise to imagine that it would be nothing like as significant as it has been in practice. DCO was already in extensive use across the railway, including on this franchise, before the start of the franchise.”
Kelly added that the DfT did not demand the introduction of DCO, saying it was a choice taken by bidders.
DfT Managing Director, Passenger Services Peter Wilkinson described attempts to engage trades unions in discussions about the extension of DCO before the franchise was let as “difficult”. Explaining that 60% of trains on the franchise already operated under this method, he added: “At that time, it was not seen as particularly contentious that we would extend that a little further.”
Govia Thameslink Railway Managing Director Charles Horton defended DCO, saying: “We believe that evidence collected over many years proves that driveronly operation is at least as safe as other methods of operation and may offer some advantages, because of the lower risk of miscommunication between two people involved in a task.”
Horton also denied that the company had overbid for the franchise: “We put in what I would describe as a solid bid, which looked at the risks in a reasonable way. We had some exciting plans with some big improvements for customers in our bid.
“It is fair to say that there were two risks: the risk of operating a network that was so constricted as a result of the works that were ongoing, and the risks associated with industrial action, which crystallised in a way that we had not foreseen. Of course, we know the result in terms of the impact on our passengers and on the profits we have been able to make as a private sector operator.”