Simon Kirby, Member of Parliament for Brighton Kemptown & Peacehaven is concerned about the amended train timetable that GTR have announced today.
GTR are trying to introduce better, more customer-focused ways of working on modern trains which will deliver a better service for passengers and improve reliability. This includes £2bn of Government investment in state of the art trains, fully equipped with the latest technology and with more space for passengers, including 115 new Thameslink trains, which are being introduced from this year.
The RMT Union is opposing the change because modern trains have automatic doors and do not need a conductor to operate the doors.
Govia are in a bitter dispute with the Unions and have said that the temporary timetable is designed to match available drivers and conductors to services, and to provide the maximum capacity for the majority of passengers. It should provide more certainty on routes which have been badly hit by ad hoc cancellations, and allow them to target reductions on routes where there are other travel options.
This revised timetable is expected to operate initially from 11th July for the next four weeks, during which time Govia will regularly review the situation with train crew availability. Please see: http://www.southernrailway.com/your-journey/revised-timetable
Simon said,
“I am contacted daily by angry, fed-up commuters and having been caught up in the disruption myself many times, I fully understand their frustration.”
Simon recently attended a meeting together with 17 other local MPs, the Secretary of State for Transport, the Rail Minister and Govia to discuss the matter. It was felt that the current major disruption to services which is infuriating constituents is also the fault of the Unions.
Simon continued,
“The service is in crisis and I am concerned that the amended timetable will cause even more problems. I urge the Unions and the Company to resolve this dispute which is causing suffering for hundreds and hundreds of commuters in Brighton Kemptown & Peacehaven.”