The pay dispute at First Capital Connect which has effectively halved the service on the Thameslink route may be almost over. The executive committee of ASLEF has approved a new offer which includes a 1.5 per cent increase for drivers backdated to last April. Now the drivers themselves must decide if they agree.

The revised offer includes 1.5 per cent in April 2009 and 2 per cent in April 2010. A further productivity increase proposed for November 2010 would take the total to about 5 per cent over two years.

Although the ASLEF executive committee is recommending acceptance, the offer will now be the subject of a drivers' referendum, which will run until 13 January.

However, there is more immediate hope in sight for FCC passengers in Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire, because FCC said it now hopes to restore the normal timetable from Monday. The service has been almost halved since 12 November, when the drivers' unofficial ban on rest day working and overtime had worsened to the point where the normal timetable could not be maintained.

ASLEF said that the improved offer will also see 'members exercise their right to work on rest days, to be reviewed in March'.

The union's general secretary Keith Norman added, "I’m pleased the company has come forward with an improved offer and hope they will address the causes of the current disagreement by recruiting more train drivers."