Please see the attached letter from the Paul Maynard MP, Parliamentary under Secretary of State for Transport concerning the above:
Dear Colleague,
As you will know, today has seen an unsuccessful attempt to close the dispute between Govia Thameslink Railway and ASLEF. Drivers have voted to reject an offer on Driver Controlled Operation negotiated by their union executive.
I am urging the union leadership to continue their commitment to ending the dispute by returning to talks. They will need to work with GTR to find a deal that their members can back.
No further industrial action is planned by ASLEF on Southern and the Secretary of State and I continue to monitor the GTR franchise closely.
GTR are holding discussions with RMT tomorrow, 4 April 2017, to try and avert strikes RMT have planned on Southern on 8 April. As you will know the RMT have planned co-ordinated industrial action across Southern, Northern and Merseyrail this Saturday.
It is clear that RMT strikes on Southern now have little impact, but they are frustrating for passengers. You will be aware that on the last RMT strike day (13 March), Southern ran 90.5 percent of services, or 9 in 10 trains. Southern expect to run similarly high levels of service for passengers on 8 April.
We are disappointed the dispute with ASLEF is unresolved, and encourage both parties to return to talks. We continue to work with GTR to make sure services on Southern deliver the improved reliability passengers expect.
PAUL MAYNARD