I have received a letter from the Secretary of State for Transport, The Rt Hon Chris Grayling MP, who has informed me that ASLEF union has agreed to end their dispute with GTR on Driver Controlled Operation. The union voted 79% in favour of ending the dispute with 87% turnout. The union members have also received a five-year pay increase worth 28.5% and the assurance of a second safety-trained person on every train, except in exceptional circumstances.
With this agreement in place, more people are now working on Southern then before. It is time for the RMT to stop their strike action and come to the table. I am pleased that Southern has improved their Public Performance Measure, now at 80%. This is still not good enough but it is moving in the right direction from 62% in December 2016.
