Go-Ahead: ‘Expect three more years of train misery’

Go-Ahead, the trains and buses operator running London’s blighted Thameslink and southeastern services, has warned passengers disruption will continue for at least three more years.

The rebuilding of London Bridge station will be completed in 2018 and Go-Ahead’s chief executive, David Brown, said things would not get back to “normal” until then.

“We are working very hard to improve performance during one of the railway’s biggest improvement programmes but it does lead to disruption in services,” Brown said.

Go-Ahead is beginning to test new trains on the UK’s biggest franchise, which it operates jointly with French firm Keolis.

Some 1400 new longer Thameslink trains will begin to appear on the franchise in February 2016 and will be phased in between then and 2018.

Pre-tax profits at the transport operator climbed 11.7% in the year to the end of June to £96.6 million, as revenues were up 19% to £3.2 billion.

Go-Ahead managed to carry a record number of rail passengers on its franchises, which also include London Midland, and profits in its rail business rose 30.5% to £25.7 million.

However, Brown defended the company’s track record saying its margin in rail was just 1%. “We made a loss on the Thameslink railway,” he said.

Go-Ahead returned £256 million to the Government in premium payments, up from £191 million a year earlier.