Unions snubbed my talks offer, says Chris Grayling as Southern Rail chaos grows
Transport Secretary Chris Grayling offered to sit down with union chiefs to try to avert chaos on the Southern Rail network this week but they failed to respond, it was claimed today.
Mr Grayling told the bosses of the RMT and Aslef unions he wanted to help thrash out a deal to avoid another round of strikes which will cause travel misery for thousands of commuters this week.
This came after RMT general secretary Mick Cash said last week he would consider stopping industrial action on Southern if the Transport Secretary agreed to meet.
But neither he nor Mick Whelan, chief of Aslef which is on strike this week, took up the offer, claimed Mr Grayling.
In an open letter to commuters today, he said union chiefs failed to agree to Southern’s request for negotiations at Acas yesterday aimed at preventing the strike. He wrote: “It’s very frustrating and not the actions of a union that wants to act to get services back to normal. It is deeply, deeply unfair on the passengers who are left in the middle of this dispute.”
Mr Grayling added that he was “very committed” to solving the dispute, telling passengers he was “really, really sorry” they had been caught up, but that he wished he was dealing with “reasonable people” on the union side.
Responding to the letter, Mr Cash said he was prepared to enter into “serious and meaningful” talks, if Mr Grayling was willing to intervene to persuade the rail company to resolve the long-running dispute.
Meanwhile thousands of commuters suffered massive disruption again today even before this week’s strikes.
Passengers have been told they should “not attempt to travel” during three days of industrial action set for tomorrow, Wednesday and Friday.
GTR, Southern’s owners, went to the Court of Appeal today in a last-ditch attempt to get the strikes called off.
It is the worst industrial dispute across the South since the three-month- long signal workers’ strikes more than 20 years ago. But many trains were cancelled this morning and some routes left without any service due to an ongoing overtime ban by drivers.
Gatwick Express services were halved — running every 30 minutes instead of 15 — and only operating between Victoria and Gatwick Airport, not to Brighton.
Southern said it was unable to run services to and from Beckenham Junction or between East Croydon and Milton Keynes via Olympia. Direct services between London and either Portsmouth or Southampton were cancelled.
Disruption affected all Southern’s 10 route divisions, with West London and Metro services part-closed. The firm warned: “There may be further cancellations due to day-to-day issues.”
There was also major disruption to the morning peak on Southeastern services into London. A major signalling problem between Hastings and Tunbridge Wells blocked lines in both directions, with buses replacing trains.
Disruption lasted until mid-morning with many commuters taking three hours or more to reach London.
GTR tried to get the strikes stopped in the High Court last week, declaring they were illegal under EU law, but lost the case. It appealed against the ruling, with the Court of Appeal expected to give its decision later today.
On strike days the only full service operating across much of southern England will be Thameslink, whose trains are forecast to be overcrowded.
Businesses will count the cost as staff fail to turn up at what, for many, is the busiest time of the year.
ArticleUnions snubbed my Southern Rail talks offer, says Chris GraylingSouthern RailChris Grayling