Commuters quit Southern trains — but revenues rise

Southern Rail is raking in more cash, even though passenger numbers have fallen following more than a year of misery for commuters.

Go-Ahead, which is a 65% partner in Govia, the joint venture that runs Southern, said that rail revenue between July and the end of September was up 2.5%, while passenger numbers fell by 1%.

This month Southern said it had agreed a deal with train drivers’ union Aslef to end more than a year of industrial action which led to snowballing delays and cancellations.

However, the trains operator remains in dispute with the RMT. Finance chief Patrick Bucher said: “The last strike day 60% of RMT members reported for work. We want to move on from this [dispute] and work with our staff and improve our services for passengers and we think most of our staff do too now.”

Analysts at Investec suggested RMT action would only have a modest impact on the rail operator’s punctuality, since the company had forced through driver-only trains.

Go-Ahead said the number of cancellations on Southern’s routes had fallen by 8% in the past 11 months and punctuality had increased by 16%. Yesterday the Government announced a plan for the railways with the running of tracks and trains integrated.

Southeastern, one of Govia’s franchises, will be a front-runner of the new system. The Government also intends to split Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern franchises when Govia’s contract expires in 2021. Go-Ahead’s ownership of the London Midland franchise will expire next month and the service will be handed to a firm owned by Dutch giant Abellio. David Brown, chief executive of Go-Ahead, welcomed the rail plan.

Bus revenues were flat at the firm.