Transport Secretary, Chris Grayling MP, and Rail Minister, Jo Johnson MP, have met with around 50 MPs yesterday to hear about the issues surrounding rail passengers after the introduction of the rail timetables on Northern Rail and Govia Thameslink Railway.

The Ministers met with every MP who requested a meeting to discuss the problems surrounding Northern Rail and Govia Thameslink Railway.

Chris Grayling has made it clear that the rail industry has failed its passengers collectively. Train companies have not raised any warning that they were not properly prepared for the timetable change.

The Rail Minister has met with Network Rail in Milton Keynes this week to discuss progress on improving train services following the emergency timetables being introduced on Monday 4th June 2018.

Unfortunately, it will take time to be corrected as there are a number of issues to work through by both train companies and Network Rail.

Transport Ministers will now hold regular talks with Govia Thameslink Railway, Network Rail and Northern to make sure improvements are being made.

Information on compensation for passengers will be being announced soon.

Work has also started on an independently chaired inquiry into the timetable implementation by the Train Operating Companies (TOC).

The Department for Transport will also be working to assess whether Northern Rail or Govia Thameslink Railway met their contract obligations during the timetable implementation.

The Secretary of State has now made it clear that should the inquiry find evidence of the train operators being at fault he will have no hesitation to take out action against them, which might include stripping the operators of their franchise.

What did the officials say?

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said:

My absolute priority is ensuring the unacceptable service levels on Northern and GTR are put right, and that people whose lives are being seriously impacted see the urgent improvements they deserve.

I have listened to MPs and share their concerns that the industry has badly failed its passengers. As I made clear, I will not hesitate to take serious action if operators are found to be in breach of their franchise agreement.

The experiences and frustrations of passengers will be front and centre of my daily discussions with the industry, and we are committed to ensuring they are rightly compensated for the disruption they have experienced.

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