Southern rail strike: Commuters blast Grayling for day of trains despair
HUNDREDS of thousands of commuters face at least two more days of strikes by train drivers despite peace talks resuming today.
Transport Secretary grilled over Southern Rail strikes
Britain’s worst-performing rail company, Southern, is to sit down with union bosses at Acas in a bid to solve the dispute over changing the role of guards.
At the same time Transport Secretary Chris Grayling signalled that he is considering new laws to stop rail workers striking after the worst disruption in 20 years.
Commuters face at least two more day of strikes
Every one of Southern’s 2,242 weekday services between London and the south coast was cancelled by the Aslef strike, causing misery for 300,000 commuters. And even as talks begin at Acas the strike will continue today and resume on Friday, with another walkout by Aslef planned for January 9 to 14.
The dispute spread to Gatwick Express services yesterday, with disruption on Tube lines adding to commuters’ problems.
Southern rail is to sit down with union boss at Acas
Meanwhile, Mr Grayling faced calls for his resignation from commuters for failing to intervene in the long-running dispute – especially as rail insiders say his department is behind the move to make drivers responsible for shutting doors. Guards, who have traditionally shut the doors, would then focus on passengers.
We have desperately called for government action
Insiders point out that Southern operates the network for the Government under a £1billion a year management contract. Mr Grayling described the walkout as “union militancy at its worst”.
But a poll for the Association of British Commuters (ABC) found that almost three in four want him to quit over his handling of the crisis. Most of the 1,000 polled also want Southern’s owner, Govia Thameslink Railway, to be stripped of the franchise.
Transport Secretary Chris Grayling has faced calls for his resignation
Asked who was to blame, one in four said the Department for Transport, a similar number blamed Southern, five per cent the unions and 44 per cent “all of the above”.
An ABC spokesman said: “The British public should know that Southern commuters have experienced a year-long nightmare with the collapse of Southern Rail. “We have desperately called for government action and have been repeatedly ignored.”