Third franchise renationalisation as Govia loses Southeastern

The former Southeastern franchise was taken over by the Department for Transporr's Operator of Last Resort at 02.00 yesterday morning, after Govia had been stripped of the contract. Govia had been accused of a 'breach of trust' by transport secretary Grant Shapps, after it was discovered that £25 million had been kept by Southeastern when it should have been refunded to the DfT. Govia has apologised and refunded the money immediately. The end of the Southeastern contract means that the DfT has now taken back three former franchises. The others were Northern and Virgin Trains East Coast, which became LNER when it was returned to public hands. The DfT is now setting up the next generation 'passenger service contracts', which will replace the old franchise model and be managed by Great British Railways.

Robin Gisby, who is CEO of the Operator of Last Resort, said: 'We have a very experienced team to confidently take the business forward and there are many exciting improvements for passengers to look forward to, including the continued roll-out of new trains. I'd like to thank the Southeastern team for their hard work and professionalism during the transition.'