1. Transport Select Committee
I met Tuesday with Huw Merriman who is also an MP in a constituency within Southern Region (Bexhill and Battle). He serves in the Transport Select Committee and has been particularly focussed on the safety issues on the roll-out of DOO. He has shared with us a letter requested by the Select Committee from the Director of Railway Safety at the Office of Rail and Road whose job it is to determine safety issues on our railways. I attach his letter in full. The key extract is as follows:
. "DOO can be operated safely, provided that as with all forms of train dispatch. Suitably maintained equipment, proper procedures and competent, trained staff are in place;
. DOO operations have been used on British railway network for over thirty years;
. Given the level of public interest, my inspectors have carried out a detailed inspection and review of Southern's proposals. We concluded that Southern has carried out the appropriate risk assessment for this method of dispatch and there was no evidence of any breach of Health and Safety regulation."
This is not an issue over safety - DOO has operated on British railways for over 30 years and is currently employed in approximately 30 per cent of the network.
2. Meeting with Transport Secretary
Southern Region MPs met this morning with Chris Grayling. As you know ASLEF, after a ballot of 937 members has, announced strike action (as set out below)
"ASLEF members on Southern Railways have voted overwhelmingly for strike action in a trade dispute over the company's decision to force through driver only operation on the franchise. We say there should be no introduction and/or extension of new driver-only operated routes on Southern without the agreement of ASLEF. In a ballot conducted by Electoral Reform Services drivers were asked two questions: Are you prepared to take part in a strike? Yes 630 [87.3%] No 92 [12.7%] Are you prepared to take part in industrial action short of a strike? Yes 690 [95.6%] No 32 4.4%] Turnout was 77% [937 papers issued; 722 returned].
GTR are in court on Wednesday, 7th December seeking an injunction to prevent ASLEF's strike action.
Minimising the impact on passengers is the Transport Secretary's number one aim. The impact of a strike or indeed the impact of "industrial action short of a strike" cannot be under-estimated. He has made clear (including on the radio Tuesday morning) his willingness to meet with the Unions if they end their industrial action.
I raised with the Transport Secretary, as I did in the Commons Monday, my concern that drivers on the Horsham line are delaying trains/skipping stations due to reported problems with the DOO cameras (see also below). He confirmed that this is being investigated.
I expressed support for the Compensation Package announced as a step in the right direction. No one believes that it compensates for appalling service received over the last year - but to get it was an important principle.
3. Network Rail/Operators Working Together
Chris Grayling attended the Commons to answer questions about his plans for Network Rail and the Operators to work closer together. This to me is common sense. Network Rail may be nationalised but it seems woefully unresponsive to passenger needs - when issues go wrong effecting passenger service these must be addressed immediately - this has not always been the case. Prior to the industrial action the main source of disruption on our lines were the responsibility of Network Rail not Southern.
A clip of the statement can be viewed here: http://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/12d31834-cf53-4841-9546-ab1c7108a042?in=12:36:38&out=13:17:30
I have reported before (and please see below) on Chris Gibb and his Project Board's work on our region (at the request of Chris Grayling) on how it can improve mutual working and clarity between Network Rail and GTR and how services should be improved. In the statement I supported the work of Chris Gibb - in replying Grayling referred specifically to the issues in Balcombe Tunnel which he and I have discussed (Balcombe Station and Tunnel lie within the Horsham constituency).
(The Balcombe Tunnel, incidentally, is a classic example of the issues we face in upgrading and modernising the railway to make it fit (after years of under-investment) to meet the needs of a vastly increased number of passengers. It is a critical piece of infrastructure on the Brighton mainline but is a kilometre long and was constructed between 1838 and 1841. Despite many improvements over the years the tunnel leaks causing problems for the rails and Network Rail - given the extensive usage of the track only have a few hours every night - as elsewhere on the network - to effect repairs. A maintenance train breaking down in the tunnel overnight caused massive problems across the network last month)
4. Meeting of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Southern Rail
This group (Chaired by Peter Kyle, Labour MP for Hove and Sir Nicholas Soames) met this afternoon to quiz Chris Gibb on his forthcoming report to the Transport Secretary on improvements to Southern. Unusually for an APPG the Rail Minister also attended. Mr Gibb produced a short summary of what is and should be underway which I attach. The £20m investment in Gibb and his immediate recommendations has been money well spent. For those who read the summary the "Horsham MMT" is a Mobile Maintenance Train. Apparently this is a very impressive piece of kit which enables technicians to work beneath the MMT on the line in safety. There are only 8 in the country and one will shortly be based in Horsham.
I took the opportunity to ask Chris Gibb
(a) about the numbers of staff employed by Southern. He believes they have sufficient and is aware that in the New Year the intention is to have more rather than fewer people on trains - this will apparently include "On Board Supervisors" on trains where a guard has not been present for many years. He also believes there are sufficient drivers - though this of course depends on the amount of overtime/rest day working for which the Operator budgets. This has traditionally been used by all Operators (and BR) and is as I understand it is popular with drivers as a means of topping up earnings.
(b) about the number of trains having to be delayed/stations skipped on the Horsham line by drivers due to the DOO cameras apparently not working. Mr Gibb is careful not to get involved in the current dispute however he was aware of the issue. He also said that the technology involved is very well established and has worked perfectly well elsewhere for many years.
I will advise you if GTR is granted its injunction tomorrow.