Caroline Lucas, Green MP for Brighton Pavilion, has tabled an Early Day Motion (EDM) calling for rail services and jobs to be protected as a new superfranchise of Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern (TSGN) services gets underway. The Government appears to support the French-owned company Keolis, which will operate the trains and which will buy new rolling stock from German company Siemens, but campaigners fear the move could lead to driver-only operated trains, the axing of guards, fewer staff at stations and loss of train maintenance staff.
Lucas tabled her EDM on 17th June, a day which began with morning protests at train stationed across the South-East, including Brighton, opposing threats to staffing and services along the new franchise. Lucas said: “I absolutely support today’s protests and call on the Government to review this new super franchise as a matter of urgency to ensure the protection of jobs, services and passenger safety. “Our once thriving railways, now privatised and fragmented, are today characterised by poor services and some of the most expensive fares in Europe. They’re ripping off passengers, harming the economy and failing the environment. If the Government really wants to make savings and improve our transport network for all, it should accept that privatisation has clearly failed and gradually return the railways into public ownership.”
The Green Party’s Baroness Jenny Jones attended a demonstration at Victoria station. She said: “This new franchise is another example of the Coalition’s cost cutting at the expense of customer safety and comfort.”