Government throws £20m at Go-Ahead's Southern problem

Westminster sent in a so-called ‘hit squad’ to deal with the struggling Southern Railway franchise on Thursday, as passengers continued to face severe disruption on the ailing operation.

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling has given a team of “experienced figures” from the rail industry a budget of £20m to spend on improvements, including staffing at major stations and faster track upgrades.

“I want the Southern network to be run by a team of people who work together to make sure passengers get decent journeys and that problems are dealt with quickly,” Grayling said in the Evening Standard, referring to the blame-game played by Southern and track operator Network Rail over infrastructure issues and delays.

The squad will be headed by 30-year railwayman Chris Gibb, who was the former chief operating officer at Virgin Trains.

Of the £20m, £2m has been earmarked for more rapid response teams to fix faults, £2.5m on faster maintenance of trains, £0.8m for additional signal supervisors and £0.09m on damage prevention at bridges.

Additional staff will be posted at major stations, including Gatwick Airport and East Croydon, to ensure trains are dispatched on time.

A passenger representative will also join the franchise review board, in a bid to give the long-suffering commuters of Southern a voice.

The measures may not amount to much for passengers, however, as the railway unions continue their campaign against changes being made by Southern to the role of guards.

Guard members of the RMT union are considering another 48-hour strike, and station staff are planning a 24-hour strike to protest the closure of ticket windows.

Southern’s woes began in April, when the company blamed severe staff shortages on high numbers of guards phoning in sick.

But the unions strenuously denied this, saying their members were being denied overtime work - which the franchise relies on to operate a full timetable - in retaliation for an earlier strike.

The franchise is part of Govia Thameslink Railway - majority-owned by Go-Ahead Group, which has previously issued a profit warning for the financial year as a result of the ongoing difficulties with Southern.