20.04.17
Passenger revenue stabilises on GTR services despite a year’s worth of strikes
Passenger growth has slowed on Southeastern rail services, whilst passenger revenue growth on strike-ridden GTR has now stabilised, the third quarter trading statement from Go-Ahead has today announced.
The statement from the company, who are behind GTR, London Midland and Southeastern, found that passenger journey growth rates on Southeastern trains in the period between 3 July 2016 and 1 April 2017 had significantly lost pace and stood at 0.5%.
Meanwhile, the company said that growth on GTR had stabilised despite almost a year’s worth of industrial action on Southern trains, as passenger journeys went up by 3.5% and passenger revenue saw a rise of 5%.
London Midland continued to give a “strong performance”, as the company reported good levels of growth in revenue and passenger journeys, at 6% and 4% respectively.
The statement read: “Service levels have stabilised following the previous periods of industrial action, delivering more reliable rail services to customers.
“Discussions between GTR and the Aslef and the RMT unions continue with the aim of resolving the ongoing industrial disputes. GTR remains fully committed to resolving these issues so as to provide improved service for customers and reduce uncertainty for our stakeholders.”
Today’s news also follows the company blaming GTR for a 35% plummet in profits in February this year, as Go-Ahead stated that major losses could be attributed to “challenges” involving GTR as other parts of the business, including its bus transport saw a rise in profits.
Go-Ahead also stated that a cost-efficiency programme had been implemented to offset the revenue shortfall over the remainder of its contract on the South Eastern franchise, which runs out in December 2018.
The company said: “The franchise continues to contribute to the Department for Transport (DfT) through a profit share mechanism, although now at a lower level.
“The DfT has begun the tender process for the forthcoming South Eastern rail franchise competition with the publication of its public consultation document.”
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