Grayling urged to act over Southern Rail franchise and launch full investigation

As the RMT Union announced fresh industrial action over the long-running row with the Southern Rail franchise-holder, the author of a book on the "strange, disturbing story of the crisis" has urged an investigation and a franchising re-think.

David Boyle commented that with services permanently reduced, continuing strike action and media condemnation, "the new transport secretary Chris Grayling has to act". He points out that sacking Govia from the franchise would jeopardise the reconstruction of London Bridge Station and the "shiny new driver-only Class 700 train". But "to continue with the franchise would clearly be a betrayal of customers and his department faces judicial review".

In this context, the blogger, read by 100,000 commuters when the franchise services were first hit by widespread cancellations, urged Grayling to hold GTR to the contract to complete London Bridge, but to use the Government's own rail-operating company to take over the franchise at Govia's expense, while bringing forward the date when TfL takes over the suburban routes from 2022.

He asserted that the DfT has "lost the argument about driver-only operation," given driver-only trains appear to be less reliable, and given safety concerns. More fundamentally, a full investigation into what went wrong is needed, he said. Boyle, who is not against franchising in principle, said: "Contracts are won by vast contracting behemoths expert in delivering financial investment and the target results Whitehall craves but in the grip of the fantasy that services can be delivered by empty companies, devoid of human content."