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Southern rail system in poor shape, with renewed threat of strike looming Southern rail system in poor shape, with renewed threat of strike looming
(35 minutes later)
Southern rail infrastructure is in “poor and unreliable” condition and all elements of the system have been under strain, a delayed report into the company’s performance says. Southern rail was attempting to run too many trains on poor and unreliable infrastructure, a delayed report into the crisis on Britain’s worst-performing rail network shows.
The long-awaited document by Network Rail director Chris Gibb criticises industrial action taken by Aslef and the Rail, Maritime and Transport union over the past year in protest at driver-only trains, which has caused travel chaos. The government-commissioned report by the Network Rail director, Chris Gibb, pins strike action by unions as “the primary cause for system integrity to fail” in 2016.
But the report, completed last year, also makes it clear that the Department for Transport, Southern’s owners Govia Thameslink Railway, Network Rail as well as the unions, have been “well aware” of how much strain the system has been under. But it warned that “all the elements of the system have been under strain”, including unreliable infrastructure, a complicated timetable, overcrowded stations and services.
“Some elements of the system have been considered largely as an afterthought, such as train maintenance depots and stations such as [London] Victoria,” says the report. The report suggested that the promises of Govia Thameslink Railway, which won the franchise with the cheapest offer, were unlikely to succeed given an “exceptionally high number of committed obligations” and a lack of staff to do the job, during a period of major upheaval to other parts of the network.
“On Southern, all elements of the system have been under strain: unreliable infrastructure, a timetable that is very tight and with overcrowded peak services, some key stations that are overcrowded, depots that are full and for historic reasons are in the wrong place, and people involved in informal and formal industrial action. It said: “The system cannot possibly work to passengers’ satisfaction with these components in this state.”
“The system cannot possibly work to passengers’ satisfaction with these components in this state.” The report by Gibb, a longstanding railway professional brought in to resolve the problems on Southern, has been kept under wraps for six months by ministers.
Southern rail drivers are to be balloted for strikes over pay, threatening disruption at the start of the school holidays. Gibb endorsed government criticisms of union action, which he said was “difficult to comprehend”. He added: “Before this formal action, there were clearly unusually high levels of short-term sickness.”
The company said the drivers’ union Aslef had notified it that voting would start on 29 June and close on 13 July, so the first walkout could be on 27 July. But Gibb also highlighed flaws in the government’s franchising process, noting that GTR won with the cheapest offer after rivals were told by the Department for Transport that their bid had “too many drivers”.
Aslef members are due to start an overtime ban on 29 June in the long-running dispute over driver-only trains, which will cause fresh misery for Southern’s 300,000 passengers. At parliamentary hearings last year, GTR bosses admitted that they were surprised by how few drivers they had when taking over the running of Southern. Gibb wrote: “It may have been the case that the bidder with the fewest drivers won, and the process failed to accurately evaluate the risks of this.”
Southern said it had offered drivers a deal worth more than 23% but it would be withdrawn if the overtime ban went ahead. The report urged ministers to find an immediate extra £300m to replace worn-out infrastructure or face an embarrassing end to one of its flagship rail programmes. He said that unless money was spent immediately, the Thameslink upgrade – which has caused years of disruption during the redevelopment of London Bridge and Blackfriars in the promise of more capacity for commuters – could only deliver 12 instead of a promised 24 trains per hour on completion in 2018. The DfT subsequently found the money in January.
A spokesman said: “People will be amazed the Aslef leadership has rejected such a significant pay offer for their members, especially as they have twice before accepted the extension of driver-controlled operation which has now been in place for over six months. Gibb suggested that parts of Southern would be better operated by Transport for London – an idea anathema to the transport secretary, Chris Grayling, who blocked plans put in place by his predecessor for parts of national rail franchises to come under Labour-run London control.
“Aslef should now suspend the overtime ban pending the result of this new ballot because we won’t be able to keep our pay offer on the table if they press ahead with interim industrial action. Campaigners have accused the Department for Transport of having suppressed the report, which was submitted in December and was believed to be ready for publication in early April. A DfT spokesman said the report was “very technical” and had needed to be assessed by a number of bodies but had been published “as soon as practically possible” after the general election.
“This ballot is a real chance for drivers to end this dispute by showing they want to accept the 23.8% pay offer and work with us to modernise the congested Southern network as updated infrastructure, trains and working practices provide the service passengers need and deserve.” Gibb catalogued a list of “best-intentioned” factors combining to make GTR’s franchise unworkable, once the issues were magnified by industrial action. These included the Thameslink upgrade works; GTR extending driver-only operation of trains; the procurement of new trains; too few drivers; management changes; Network Rail’s own strained budget; rapid passenger growth; and a timetable that strained the system, and relied on train depots in the wrong place. He wrote: “Some elements of the system have been considered largely as an afterthought, such as Victoria [station].”
Mick Whelan, the Aslef general secretary, has called for the company to be stripped of its franchise for its “failure” to deliver services. He considered whether the franchise should be stripped from GTR but warned that it could further delay Thameslink improvements. In a phrase that lays bare the involvement of ministers – often officially denied – in the battle between unions and GTR, Gibb wrote: “Whilst you are already determining the strategic direction of this dispute, the introduction of a state-owned and governed operator would mean that every aspect of the dispute would fall under the direction of the secretary of state.”
He said: “We have been talking to the company over the last fortnight in parallel, but separate, talks about drivers’ terms and conditions; industrial relations and pay. The report also recommends that the Gatwick Express system be overhauled to free up space, with Gibb admitting what many airport users and rail passengers have concluded: “It is debatable whether a premium fare can be justified for Gatwick Express services.”
“The company’s failure to engage over driver-only operation is the reason our members will no longer work overtime – which, of course, is entirely voluntary – from June 29.” A DfT spokesperson said: “Chris Gibb’s report sets out the reasons why the Southern rail system faced so many problems last year. But it finds the main cause of widespread disruption was union action and unusually high levels of sick leave.
Whelan said a pay rise was eight months behind schedule, accusing the company of refusing to negotiate until recently. “The report makes absolutely clear that passengers would have had reliable services had staff come to work as normal – despite the other challenges faced by the network.”
Aslef and Southern clashed on the impact of overtime, with the union saying the company relies on drivers working voluntary overtime to run at least 25% of its services but Southern insisting it was only 10%. He added that Southern’s performance had significantly improved since December and more services were running on time.
Anthony Smith, chief executive of the transport user watchdog, Transport Focus, said all the problems identified still remained to some degree. “Passengers will now want some questions answered: who is now in charge? What is the recovery plan? And what are the realistic prospects for improved performance in 2018?
“Passengers will also want re-assurance from the government that the lessons learned from this episode are understood and acted on in future planning, projects and franchises.”
The RMT general secretary, Mick Cash, accused the government of spinning the report as an attack on unions, adding: “The fight for safety and access to services on Southern rail goes on. Chris Grayling can cut and paste Gibb however he likes to try and prop up the basket-case GTR operation, but the passengers forking out thousands of pounds a year for Britain’s worst rail service won’t buy it.”
Emily Yates, of the Association of British Commuters, said: “We’re happy the report is finally published after pushing for six months for it. We need to examine the findings carefully, but it points to a complete lack of joined-up thinking in running the GTR franchise and the railway.”
Meanwhile, Southern drivers are to be balloted for strikes over pay, threatening disruption at the start of the school holidays.
Aslef members are due to start a ban on overtime on 29 June, which will disrupt many services for Southern’s 300,000 passengers, but an all-out strike would stop trains completely.
Southern said a five-year pay deal it had offered worth more than 23% would be withdrawn if the overtime ban went ahead.
A spokesman said: “This ballot is a real chance for drivers to end this dispute by showing they want to accept the 23.8% pay offer and work with us to modernise the congested Southern network.”
Mick Whelan, the general secretary of Aslef, has called for the company to be stripped of its franchise, and hit out at GTR for linking a pay deal with separate talks on driver-only operation, which Aslef says is a safety issue.