Southeastern services operate out of Charing Cross and Waterloo. Through its subsidiary Govia, Go-Ahead also runs Southern and Thameslink, which provide services through East Croydon through to the south coast and into Victoria and London Bridge.
The campaigns’ lawyers allege that the investigation into the Southeastern fraud was subject to an “obvious, profound and unavoidable conflict of interest”.
Two legal letters now dispatched allege that the events on Southeastern were “in the best case a serious and knowing breach of contract, but at worst a criminal fraud”.
“Govia’s record is nothing but a history of deceit and failure, and the Go-Ahead Group should have no further involvement in any aspect of our public transport system,” Bring Back British Rail’s Ellie Harrison said this morning.
“The only solution to this scandal is for Thameslink, Southern and Northern to be brought into public ownership. If we want a transparent and accountable railway, run in the public interest, then we need all our rail franchises returned to public hands.”
“All of The Go-Ahead Group’s public transport operations are tainted by this, and they simply cannot be trusted.”
Rail passenger groups Bring Back British Rail and the Association of British Commuters have accused the government of burying a scandalous report on the investigation into Southeastern’s seven-year fraud.
The campaigns’ lawyers allege that the investigation into the Southeastern fraud was subject to an “obvious, profound and unavoidable conflict of interest”, because it was run by its owning groups.
Go-Ahead and French-based partners Keolis operate through their subsidiary Govia Ltd, all of whose directors are also on the boards of Govia Thameslink Railway and Southeastern.
Two legal letters have now been dispatched, alleging that the events on Southeastern were “in the best case a serious and knowing breach of contract, but at worst a criminal fraud”.
The campaigners’ main demand is for Thameslink and Southern services to be brought into public ownership via the arms-length “Operator of Last Resort”, which has been a proven success on the publicly-owned franchises, LNER and Northern.
“Govia’s record is nothing but a history of deceit and failure, and the Go-Ahead Group should have no further involvement in any aspect of our public transport system,” Bring Back British Rail’s Ellie Harrison said this morning.
“The only solution to this scandal is for Thameslink, Southern and Northern to be brought into public ownership. If we want a transparent and accountable railway, run in the public interest, then we need all our rail franchises returned to public hands.”
“All of The Go-Ahead Group’s public transport operations are tainted by this, and they simply cannot be trusted.”