The UK Government has announced its Operator of Last Resort (OLR)
will take over services from Southeastern rail after an investigation found a “serious
breach” of the operator’s franchise agreement.
Services between London, Kent and parts of East Sussex currently
run by London and South Eastern Railway – operating as Southeastern, part of
Govia – will be taken over by the OLR, which will be known as SE Trains
Limited, on 17 October. Passengers have been told they will see “no
interruption” to services and that LSER staff will remain. The OLR also
operates London North Eastern Railway (LNER) and Northern.
The Department for Transport (DfT) said it had discovered evidence
that since 2014, Southeastern had failed to declare £25 million of historic
taxpayer funding which should have been returned. While the money has since
been recovered, the Government said it will conduct further investigations and will
consider additional enforcement action, including financial penalties.
Transport secretary Grant Shapps said: “There is clear,
compelling and serious evidence that LSER have breached the trust that is
absolutely fundamental to the success of our railways. When trust is broken, we
will act decisively.
“The decision to take control of services makes
unequivocally clear that we will not accept anything less from the private
sector than a total commitment to their passengers and absolute transparency
with taxpayer support.”
The DfT said services on the line will be transferred back
into the private sector under a new contract “in future”.
Southeastern has released a statement only to confirm the
Government’s decision and to reassure passengers they will see no change in
day-to-day operations or ticket validity.
The operator has run the franchise since 2006. The Government
had been in the process of inviting new bids for the services but decided to
cancel the competition in August 2019 and instead extended Southeastern’s
contract until April 2020. The company then started under a new contract lasting
until 16 October this year.
Rail, Maritime and Transport union general secretary Mick
Lynch said the Government’s decision to nationalise another rail franchise “raises
serious questions about the viability of their [Govia’s] other operations
including the busy Thameslink services”. Lynch believes it is also evidence
that it’s “time to put the rest of Britain’s failing private rail operations
out of their misery, cut the middleman and build a public railway that’s fit
for a green, post-Covid future.”