I wanted to write to you in light of the strikes which are taking place tomorrow, Tuesday 10th January, Wednesday 11th January and Friday 13th January, in addition to the ongoing overtime ban.
As you know strike action by ASLEF will effectively close down Southern. I recognise that the efforts being made to provide some service into London will simply not manage to replace the trains – which serve half a million people a day - and delays and overcrowding are I am afraid inevitable. However for those who can get to Gatwick, trains will operate every 30minutes from 5am into London Victoria. Buses are being provided from Horsham to Dorking to connect with South Western services which will be running. All the details are on the Southern Rail website. In addition there are details of car share schemes – which came from a suggestion from a Horsham constituent which I passed on and for which I am grateful.
As you know the expressed rationale for the ongoing strikes are “safety concerns”. Ian Prosser, who is the lead executive director within the independent rail regulator responsible for safety on Britain’s railways, has had undertaken a safety audit on the extension of DOO by Southern, specifically in relation to the Horsham-Bognor Regis service. His report, which was published on 5th January has concluded that there are no significant safety issues. He does suggest some further minor improvements at a small number of stations, for example improvements to station lighting. GTR have provided Ian Prosser with categorical assurances that trains will either not operate under DOO conditions at these stations until they meet the necessary lighting standards – or, where this is not immediately possible they will put in place alternative dispatch arrangements, for example station staff dispatch. Taken together, Ian Prosser’s report and the commitments made I believe means there is no possible justification for the strike action to continue. I attach a copy of the report.
There have been a number of sets of talks and regular informal contact. Depressingly one of the Union’s has stated that they are not even in the “same universe” as management. The official basis for the dispute is extremely limited and the Government is prepared to underwrite an agreement which takes practical steps to assuage remaining concerns the Unions have while implementing the ongoing modernisation of the railways – which is critical to improve the reliability of the service and capacity. I am sorry that commuters reaching London today faced a strike on the Underground called by the RMT.
Southern has I understand already recruited an additional 100 on-board supervisors – underlining their commitment to have a second person on board trains in all but exceptional circumstances. You may also have read this week of the Government’s initiative to recruit additional drivers to reduce the historic dependence of every train company, over many years, on overtime. Although this has historically worked well on a co-operative basis between management and employees it appears to have run its course.
I am acutely aware of the devastating impact the rail service is having on your lives and for this I am very sorry