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| Owner of Southern Rail to spend £13.4m on improving services | Owner of Southern Rail to spend £13.4m on improving services |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Go-Ahead, which runs the Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern rail franchise, has agreed with the Department for Transport to spend £13.4m on improving services. | |
| The company has been marred by industrial action over the last year as well as fierce criticism from customers who have faced cancellations, disruptions and severe delays. | |
| On Thursday, Go-Ahead said £7m of the sum would be put into a fund for the DfT to allocate to projects and improvements that will directly benefit passengers. | On Thursday, Go-Ahead said £7m of the sum would be put into a fund for the DfT to allocate to projects and improvements that will directly benefit passengers. |
| A further £4m will fund 50 on-board supervisors over the next two years, starting in January 2018, “to improve access to staff for passengers on trains”. The remaining £2.4m will target general performance improvements. | A further £4m will fund 50 on-board supervisors over the next two years, starting in January 2018, “to improve access to staff for passengers on trains”. The remaining £2.4m will target general performance improvements. |
| But campaigners called the move "too little, too late". Lianna Etkind, public transport campaigner for the Campaign for Better Transport, said: | |
| “The southern fiasco is estimated to have cost the economy over £300m, and the Government has already covered millions of pounds in delay repay on behalf of Southern as well as handing GTR £20m of public money last year as part of an emergency package. | |
| “Passengers have endured many months of miserable disruption, with poor performance predating the industrial action by many months. The Government should take control of this failing franchise, with a new start and a set up that passengers can have confidence in, and start the process of splitting it up and devolving key London sections of it to Transport for London.“ | |
| Go-Ahead employs around 29,000 people across the UK and over one billion passenger journeys are undertaken on their services every year. | Go-Ahead employs around 29,000 people across the UK and over one billion passenger journeys are undertaken on their services every year. |
| The company’s customers include the DfT as well as Transport for London and a number of local authorities. | The company’s customers include the DfT as well as Transport for London and a number of local authorities. |
| Southern has been in dispute with the RMT union and the drivers’ union, ASLEF, for over a year over plans to extend driver-only operations. | Southern has been in dispute with the RMT union and the drivers’ union, ASLEF, for over a year over plans to extend driver-only operations. |
| The rail operators say that drivers and guards should accept proposals for fewer guards, pointing out that many train services already run without them. | The rail operators say that drivers and guards should accept proposals for fewer guards, pointing out that many train services already run without them. |
| Go-Ahead stated at its half year results in February that the range of uncertainty around profitability of its rail division for the year that ended 1 July was plus or minus £15m. It said that this range related to the outcome of discussions with the DfT regarding the impact of industrial action on train performance, and other contractual variations. | Go-Ahead stated at its half year results in February that the range of uncertainty around profitability of its rail division for the year that ended 1 July was plus or minus £15m. It said that this range related to the outcome of discussions with the DfT regarding the impact of industrial action on train performance, and other contractual variations. |
| On Thursday it said that those contractual discussions had now been resolved. The remaining range of uncertainty is plus or minus £5m, “reflecting a number of other ongoing contractual variations; including rolling stock cascades and timetable specifications, which remain under discussion with the DfT”. |