Please find below an update from Charles Horton, Chief Executive Officer:
Dear stakeholder
Southern industrial relations
I am writing to update you on our plans for next week’s ASLEF strike action and other matters relating to our industrial relations.
I am very disappointed that ASLEF is continuing with its overtime ban and its planned strike action for next week, and has announced further strike action for later this month. In our meetings at ACAS with ASLEF, we made various proposals to settle the dispute and avoid further industrial action.
These included a willingness to agree not to further extend driver controlled operation beyond the current position, for a period of five years, without the agreement of ASLEF. We also suggested setting up an insurance/indemnity arrangement for drivers to support colleagues involved in platform train interface incidents, unless gross misconduct is the cause. We proposed a technology update programme to refresh older, yet safe and functional, on-train technology to ensure it is of the same standard of later variants of the same type of train.
We have now completed the programme of extending the roll out of driver controlled operation on Southern, with over 75% of our services now being operated with the driver in full control of the train, and a second member of staff on board at least as many trains as there were previously. Our full team of on board supervisors (OBSs) including former conductors and revenue protection staff, and a further 100 new employees who have been recruited as OBSs in recent months, is now in place.
We continue to call on ASLEF to end their futile and unnecessary action, and join us in delivering a modern railway for everyone.
Plans for next week
We can confirm that no Southern train services will run during next week's three-day ASLEF drivers' strike (10, 11 & 13 January). We have announced a number of alternative measures to try to help those commuters who have essential travel needs. These include organising 200 coaches/buses each day to provide road links for essential travel from nine Southern stations (details in Annex to letter) into nearby neighbouring train networks where they can connect into other train operators' services. The fleet has been brought in from a wide range of bus and coach operators across the South East. Capacity on the buses will be limited and journey times will take much longer.
We are advising people to work from home or remotely if they can, stagger journeys if possible and to only travel if it is "essential" and allow plenty of extra time for journeys. Other measures include:
- Thameslink services will continue to operate throughout each day.
- Gatwick Express will provide a reduced service every 30 minutes between Gatwick Airport and London Victoria.
- Coach operator National Express is laying on extra services from Brighton to London throughout the week (nationalexpress.com)
- Details of car share schemes are being made available to passengers on Southern's website.
In order to ensure public safety, crowd control measures will be in operation at all stations where trains or buses will operate.
With this package of measures, we are putting in place a very limited number of alternative options to help people with essential travel needs to get where they need to be. Unfortunately, there is no practical way we could replace 2,000-plus trains we run each day with buses, but what we are doing is providing transport to link some passengers into other operators' stations where services are running normally. We are massively grateful to all the operators who are helping us in our efforts to keep passengers moving.
The buses will run from a small number of stations and space will be very limited, so we are asking those who don't need to travel, or who have a viable alternative, to leave the space for those who have no other option. Anyone who does travel should expect to queue, plan for longer journeys and realise the service they join will be exceptionally busy.
I am extremely sorry for the ongoing disruption caused to you and your constituents by the ongoing industrial action. The ball is very much now in the unions’ court. I would ask you to join me in telling the RMT and ASLEF leadership that it’s time to call an end to all this. We remain available for further talks.
Yours sincerely,
Charles Horton
Chief Executive Officer