I am delighted to be able to share with you a letter (see at the bottom of this page) from Charles Horton, CEO of GTR.
GTR and ASLEF have today reached an agreement to settle their dispute. No further ASLEF industrial action is planned but the agreement is subject to securing the support of ASLEF members over the next couple of weeks
This dispute has caused huge problems for so many passengers and we will all be concerned that it ever came to this - but for today I am simply relieved and delighted that an agreement has finally been secured.
The RMT continue to be in dispute with GTR and I hope for the sake of both staff and passengers that this too can now be brought to an agreed conclusion.
I don't for one moment believe that if this agreement gains the support of ASLEF members and a deal is subsequently agreed with the RMT that this will mark the end of problems on our railway. Sadly it won't. In common with my colleagues from across the county, direct and through the All Party Parliamentary Group for Southern Rail we will continue to battle on behalf of passengers and hold GTR to account. I am also keen to ensure that the extra money identified to progress the upgrading of our line is delivered.
Lastly may I share with you an update I received last week from GTR on progress being made on the delivery of the compensation payment for those eligible.
"Our customer portal for the compensation package for season ticket holders went live on 20 January at http://www.southernrailway.com/your-journey/customer-services/season-ticket-compensation
We have a list of customers who we believe are entitled to the compensation package, and emails are being sent out at the rate of 1500 per day to maintain a steady flow of contacts and ensure people are paid promptly...A claim portal for customers not on our own list will open in 7-10 days time following training for our customer services staff handling the claims.
Given the sums of money involved this needs to be a rigorous and thorough process and it will take time to process all claims. However.... we are determined to ensure that all of our customers entitled to compensation receive the amount they are due, in as short a timeframe as is possible.
I hope this provides reassurance that we are making progress with this important scheme to provide some recompense for the disruption to passengers on Southern over many months."