Contract to run Britain's biggest commuter rail network comes a week after £23.5m fine. The transport group Go-Ahead has been awarded a new contract to run Britain's biggest commuter rail network a week after being fined £23.5m for wrongly withholding £50m of taxpayers money on another franchise. The rail union RMT said it was a sick joke that the groups Govia joint venture was given a three-year deal to continue running the Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern franchise, which served about a million passengers daily pre-Covid.
(Permalink) Go-Ahead Govia RMT Thameslink Southern and Great Northern Franchise

Department for Transport finds rail operator did not declare more than £25m of historical taxpayer funding. The government is taking over the running of Southeastern railway services from Go-Ahead after discovering a serious breach of the franchise agreement. The transport secretary, Grant Shapps, said an investigation by the Department for Transport found that since October 2014 Southeastern had not declared more than £25m of historical taxpayer funding that should have been returned, and described this as a serious breach of the franchise agreements good faith obligation.
(Permalink) Department for Transport Franchise Go-Ahead Govia Keolis Operator of Last Resort Serious Fraud Office Southeastern