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Sadiq Khan weighed into the Southern Rail dispute today, saying “enough is enough” and calling for passengers’ suffering to come to an end.

The Mayor said commuters had endured “appalling” service during weeks of disruption following walkouts and staffing problems.

He revealed that he told Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin to speed up handling over control of the suburban routes this week.

Mr Khan believes that transferring commuter routes to Transport for London would free him up to set tougher new standards of performance.

It would also give City Hall control over timetabling and allow him to extend his fares freeze to overground rail, which many Londoners had been expecting.

The Mayor told the Standard: “Enough is enough. Thousands of passengers have suffered from appalling levels of service on the commuter franchises running in London for far too long.

“The ongoing charade we’ve seen with Southern trains is just the tip of the iceberg, and the long awaited transfer of suburban rail services to Transport for London must be made a priority.

“Once we have been given control we will set tougher standards of performance and help ensure those standards are met by providing passengers with more frequent services and new, longer trains.

“When I met the Secretary of State earlier this week I made the case for speeding up this vital work. The sooner we take over, the sooner passengers will stop suffering.”

However, Department for Transport insiders suggested Mr Khan still had to set out what he would do differently from Southern Rail to avoid more disruption.

Some delays have been as a result of the refurbishment of London Bridge station and the introduction of new trains, both of which he supports.

There were also questions over the new Mayor’s relationship with the unions given there have been three recent strikes on the suburban route.

Rail minister Claire Perry said: “The real solution to improving this rail service is for union bosses to end their self-described ‘war’ against passengers and agree to the introduction of new trains.”

The Southern dispute has been dubbed the “sick note strike” with daily cancellations blamed on staffing numbers although the RMT says poor management and a lack of overall staff is to blame.

Another strike over the changing role of conductors - which the company views as key to driving down costs but is a red line issue for the union - is due to be held next Tuesday.

City Hall insiders said the Mayor viewed strikes as a sign of failure and wanted to reduce the number, in part by having a constructive relationship with unions, as well as employers.

But his critics will point out that more strikes are expected over the Night Tube.

A spokesman for the Rail Delivery Group, which represents Network Rail and train operators, said: "Whoever was running the Southern network would be facing similar difficulties - namely modernising the service and operating a network constrained by the improvement works at London Bridge.

"Some of the best passenger satisfaction levels in London and the South East are being achieved on services commissioned by both Transport for London and the Department for Transport."