Thank you for writing to me about this week’s rail strike and the ongoing problems with Southern Trains.

I have recently received a letter from the new Rail Minister letting me know what steps are being taken to try to improve matters.

The Secretary of State for Transport and the Rail Minister are very well aware of the performance issues on Southern, and are devoting a lot of time to addressing the root causes of the problems. As you will know, there are a number of issues at the moment.

The first is the ongoing industrial action by guards. The RMT is in dispute with the company over plans to introduce driver only operation over the whole GTR network. It is worth saying that a substantial proportion of GTR trains are already operated in this way.

In particular, the new generation of GTR trains which are being rolled out over the coming months are all designed to operate this way. These trains will benefit passengers by having more capacity and air-conditioning to improve journeys. GTR have also assured me that no one is losing their job or having their pay cut as a result of the changes – the existing guards will become on board customer support staff.

As you will be aware, the levels of staff sickness on the route have rocketed in recent weeks. GTR’s plan, following a consultation period with drivers is to introduce driver only operation across much of its network on August 21st. They have already done so on Gatwick Express. Unfortunately, it is that plan which has prompted this week’s strike.

From the Minister’s letter, I understand that GTR have told the Government that they are planning to run around 60% of services this week, and hopefully the holiday season will ease the pressures on the network. I find action of this kind by the unions is wholly unacceptable and I am sorry that journeys may be disrupted. However, it has to be for the company and the union to resolve the issues.

I understand the union would now like to draw the Government into the dispute for political reasons, but we do not believe that Ministers should be involved in employer/employee negotiations of this kind. Despite three days of ACAS negotiations, the RMT seem unwilling at this time to accept the introduction of this new fleet of trains. In the end the train operators cannot and should not be prevented from continuing the process of modernising the railways.

However the dispute is not the only reason for under-performance. There has been some sheer bad luck in recent weeks – including a major failure near Gatwick, which is currently being investigated by police. In addition, the ongoing works at London Bridge have clearly had an impact on services. Both the Secretary of State and the Rail Minister have visited the station in the past fortnight, and the improvements will clearly make a real difference to passengers, even though they have been disruptive. Two-thirds of the new station will open after the August bank holiday weekend, later this month. There will also be more new trains introduced across the network this autumn, with increased capacity for many passengers.

A number of constituents want the Government to either take back control of the route or to hand it over to Transport for London. The latter action would be wrong, and I agree with the Minister that, as TfL does not have the expertise, nor should the Mayor of London have political responsibility, to run a main line route from Cambridge and Bedford to Brighton. With regard to overall management changes, the prime concern is to get the problems sorted out rather than focussing on the franchise agreement and the contracting of the route. I think any changes would have to obviously improve the situation for passengers otherwise there would be no point making them. Changing the franchisee does not alter the current problems.

The Government is sorry that union action is causing so much trouble but  does not believe that GTR should simply cave in to pressure from the RMT. They are clearly trying to resist logical and necessary changes that will bring benefits for passengers.

As more information becomes available, I will let constituents know.