No trains will run into Brighton from London on the first day of this year’s Brighton Pride, an MP has claimed.
Brighton Kemptown MP Lloyd Russell-Moyle has today launched a petition saying Govia Thameslink Railway will not run any trains south of Three Bridges on the Brighton Mainline on Saturday, 5 August.
He says GTR is claiming it can’t get the extra drivers it needs to boost services on the line because of an overtime ban by Aslef union, which represents train drivers – and so has instead just cancelled them all.
The Southern Rail and Thameslink websites currently say they will provide further information about trains on that day at a later date. GTR has been contacted for comment.
The petition says: ” The company has known for months this was going to happen and instead of making alternative plans they have taken the nuclear option of mass cancellations.
“Aslef have acknowledged that it would be possible to design a shift pattern that could accommodate the event but GTR are refusing to engage.
“GTR have enough drivers to cover the event if they were to reallocate from the Peterborough or Cambridge routes and run a shuttle service to London.
“Their decision to cancel all trains to Brighton will leave tens of thousands of people stranded and will be dangerous for those trying to get home.
“GTR can create a shift pattern that works but is instead cancelling all trains. It must urgently act to save Brighton Pride.”
Mick Whelan, general secretary of Aslef, said this afternoon: “It is outrageous – and utterly ridiculous – to try to blame ASLEF for problems which are entirely of this train company’s own making.
“Let’s be clear – the simple fact is that this company does not employ enough drivers to deliver the services it has promised passengers, businesses, and the Department for Transport it will run. That’s why it is dependent on drivers working overtime.
“Overtime, of course, is entirely voluntary, not mandatory. And drivers are not working overtime because they are in dispute with a company which has not given them a pay increase for four years – since 2019 – although the cost of living, as we all know, has soared in that time – up well into double digits.
“GTR Thameslink has known the date of Brighton Pride – and about its failure to employ enough drivers to deliver the services it should – for a very long time.
“Yet they are only running trains to Three Bridges – just three-quarters of the way down the line – in a deliberate and malicious attempt to disrupt the LGBT+ day and then to blame ASLEF for its own manifest failings.
“That, I think, is beneath contempt. The company should do the right thing – give our members, their drivers, the pay rise they deserve – and give the people of Brighton the train service they need. Not just on the Saturday of Brighton Pride. But on every day, of every week, and for the rest of this year.
“The truth is that shift patterns mean that if services can run on a Friday, they can run on a Saturday. The company could have issued a special diagram to ensure people could get into – and out of – Brighton on the day.
How the unions love to hold the public to ransom. This is another glimpse of what life will be like once Labour start running the country again.
The drivers are refusing to work voluntary overtime. They aren’t on strike that day.
It’s the management who have decided not to run trains between Three Bridges and Brighton using the drivers they do have available. Why did they decide to do that? There really isn’t any rational argument other than to try and rile up public anger.
It’s the management who have consistently failed to recruit and train enough drivers so they aren’t reliant on overtime to operate the services they promised to offer. And this isn’t a new thing. Govia have been failing for years to recruit sufficient new drivers to cover retirements let alone for additional services.
This is literally life right now under the Tories.
Ah yes, it’s always the fault of the party who haven’t been in power for the past 12 years.
Try blaming the rail company and not the drivers, if you read the article properly you will see that the company knew months ago of the problem. If overtime is not mandatory where is the strike?
They very easily could have rostered everyone to work the 3 days of pride weekend. It’s poor management and planning. To say aslef are not to blame is equally nonsense as obviously if they were not pulling the overtime ban stunt this wouldn’t be an issue.
Drivers have a basic salary that is double that of a HGV driver. They work 4 days a week and every 4weeks get 1 week off, not including holidays so my heart certainty does not bleed for them. When they work the 5th day, like everyone else does they get paid time and a half so they need to stop crying and holding us all to ransom.
But poor management is poor management.
Why shoud they work voluntary overtime if they choose not to? Given that if they did they’d earn time and a half there must be plenty of money available for the company to employ and train more drivers so that nobody is actually required to work overtime at all. The only people ‘holding you to ransom’ are the utterly inept management who keep trying to do everything on the cheap to maximise profits for shareholders.
i’ve lost count of the times my journeys on saturdays have been disrupted by these strikes.
people like royal mussell support these strikes – til it rains on their parade and they start hissy fitting like he did on his acceptance speech after he was elected.
i’ve got used to making alternative arrangements – there are plenty.. get over it and stop the hissy fitting
Put the trains back into public ownership
It’s funny how the kemptown mp comes out all guns blazing when gay pride is affected but is no where around when residents of kemptown high rise are living in fear from Anti Social Behaviour from youth centre even setting fire to the building there no where to be seen