Pressure group formed after months of strikes and delays crowdsource £24,000 to challenge government handling of crisis

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

A group of commuters who have faced strikes, cancellations and delays on Southern rail have raised more than £24,000 to launch legal action against the Department for Transport.

The Association of British Commuters, a pressure group formed in the wake of months of disruption on the service, set up a website to crowdfund a challenge of the government’s handling of the crisis.

The campaign set an initial target of £10,000 to scope out legal action. It cleared this target within days and is set to reach its “stretch” target of £25,000 before a deadline of 5am on Wednesday 5 October.

Almost 1,200 people have donated to the campaign, which received a “really strong boost” after Southern tried to blame the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) for the ongoing disruption. The widely ridiculed publicity drive was the latest episode in a long-running row between Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) and the RMT over the role of conductors.

Emily Yates, the group’s co-founder, said the campaign had brought together people from across the political spectrum, adding: “We have enough to go forward … it’s quite clear we have to work together to get out of this situation.

“There is such a sense of goodwill – [it] is probably the only positive thing to come out of the whole thing.”

The crowdfunding drive comes to an end as passengers prepare for a new wave of strikes planned for next week. The industrial action looks set to go ahead after the union rejected an ultimatum from GTR and described the company as “hell-bent on confrontation”.

GTR wants trains to be driver-operated only, which would leave some services without a second staff member. The RMT says this would put passenger safety at risk.

The service has also been hit by staff shortages and disruption caused by the renovation of London Bridge station.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest A protest against Southern rail at London’s Victoria station on 29 September. Photograph: Guy Bell/Rex/Shutterstock

On Monday 3 October, the operator gave the RMT until Thursday to accept a deal that included a £2,000 payment to staff whose roles were to change.

However, Mick Cash, the union’s general secretary, rejected the offer, and accused the company of refusing to participate in talks with the mediation service Acas ahead of a new wave of strikes.

Cash told AP: “The rejection of unconditional Acas talks by Southern confirms that they have no interest in a settlement and are hell-bent on confrontation.”

A spokesman for GTR said on Tuesday: “As we spelled out in our letter to the RMT yesterday, we are already implementing our proposals and any discussions can now only relate to the detail of our offer. The timescales that we are working to and subsequent consequences have been clearly laid out and we therefore hope the union will finally engage with us on this basis to avoid any further unnecessary disruption and distress to our customers and staff.”

Meanwhile, the Association of British Commuters has hired Devonshires Solicitors and barristers Rhodri Thompson QC and Jamas Hodivala for advice on launching a judicial review.



Yates said: “It’s become quite clear that the solid line leads to the DfT and we need to be chasing them.”

The DfT has refused to release documents showing how Southern has complied with its franchise agreement, including information about the remedial plan agreed with GTR in February. It has also refused to release details of a £20m government fund to address problems with the franchise.

Matthew Garbutt of Devonshires Solicitors said the DfT refused to provide the documents voluntarily, instead insisting on treating the requests as freedom of information requests.

He said: “I hope that the Department for Transport releases these papers so that the travelling public get the transparency they need at this difficult time.”

A DfT spokesman said: “Improving rail services for Southern passengers is a priority for us and the operator. We announced last month that Network Rail would deliver £20m of improvements and appointed a rail industry expert to lead a project board to drive up performance.



“We have responded to correspondence from lawyers acting on behalf of the Association of British Commuters.”