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Southeastern stripped of franchise after owing taxpayers £25m

RAIL services in London and south-east England will be back under public ownership next month after profiteering train operator Southeastern was stripped of its franchise today, owing the Treasury £25 million.

Both rail unions and Labour responded to the fiasco by demanding full and permanent nationalisation of the nation’s rail network — and that the cash be recovered.

London and South Eastern Railways operator Govia was recently investigated and found to have failed to pay £25 million owed to the Treasury under the terms of its franchise.

Elodie Brian, the chief financial officer of transport firm Go-Ahead, the majority owner of Govia, has resigned.

Services will be taken over by the Department for Transport on October 17.

Mick Lynch, general secretary of rail union RMT, accused Govia of “playing fast and loose with their financial commitments.”

He said: “This latest public-sector rescue of a privately operated rail service should kill off the risky and expensive nonsense of rail privatisation once and for all.

“It’s time to put the rest of Britain’s failing private rail operations out of their misery, cut out the middleman and build a public railway that’s fit for a green, post-Covid future.”

Manuel Cortes, general secretary of the industry’s clerical and management union TSSA, said that the days of privatisation “must now be well and truly over.”

He said: “Time and time again we see the private sector fail and taxpayers ride to the rescue.

“We need the government to dump the failed franchise system, end the profiteering of the train operating companies and take over the whole thing — lock, stock and rails.”

Mick Whelan, general secretary of train drivers’ union Aslef, said Southeastern should be under permanent public ownership.

Labour’s shadow transport secretary Jim McMahon said the collapse was “yet another example of the complete failure of the franchise model, which prioritises private company profits over passengers and service.” 

He called for nationalisation “over the next six months.”

LSER services cover London, Kent, East Sussex and the High Speed 1 lines.

Govia also runs Thameslink, Southern, Great Northern, and Gatwick Express.

Go-Ahead shares fell more than 22 per cent in morning trading and the firm’s chairwoman Clare Hollingsworth said: “We recognise that mistakes have been made and we sincerely apologise to the department.

“We are working constructively with the Department for Transport towards a settlement of this matter.”

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