Two major rail franchises look set to be split under a radical shake-up by the Transport Secretary Chris Grayling including the giant contract which encompasses Southern.

Mr Grayling said the Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern franchise, known as GTR, would be split into two or more new contracts with a formal plan set to be produced by 2019 when operators will be able to bid for control of the franchises.

Part of the overhaul to the vast franchise could include transferring the West London line to Transport for London, Mr Grayling said.

The GTR network, run by Go-Ahead and Keolis joint venture Govia, was created because it was felt at the time combining each of those routes into one franchise would help increase capacity more effectively.

But the sheer size of the franchise has led some to question recently whether this has contributed to the problems on Southern.