Posted 21st January 2010 | 6 Comments

Adonis gives First Capital Connect one last chance

THE GOVERNMENT'S tolerance of disruption on the Thameslink route of First Capital Connect is almost at an end. In his plainest statement about FCC's problems so far, transport secretary Andrew Adonis has warned that FirstGroup will face penalties and could lose its franchise unless services remain fully restored from now on.

Lord Adonis, who has been criticised by angry FCC passengers for not intervening much earlier, said that he was now ‘prepared to take action’.

Thameslink services have been disrupted since October, when a spreading unofficial ban on drivers’ overtime and rest day working in connection with a pay row began to bite. An emergency timetable introduced on 13 November virtually halved off-peak services on the busy Bedford-Brighton route.

Although the pay dispute has now been settled, icy weather this month has damaged many of the Class 319 units which FCC needs for the Thameslink route, and a near-normal service was only restored at the start of this week, although some cancellations and short formations have continued.

Lord Adonis is making it clear that FCC is now being regarded as being on probation. A new managing director, Neal Lawson, has just taken over, after a period in which the operator was being run directly by the head of FirstGroup Rail, Mary Grant.

In a statement, FCC said: ‘We take our franchise commitments extremely seriously and are committed to giving our customers the good service they deserve. We are working closely with the Department for Transport on our service improvement plans and have run a significantly improved service from Monday on the Thameslink route.  Although we have had a number of short formations as we continue to repair trains. It is worth noting that the Great Northern route, which accounts for 50% of our customers, has been operating a normal service.’

Should the DfT take action against FCC, particularly if the franchise is terminated, the consequences could be serious for FirstGroup as a whole. The record of the past few years shows that groups who have defaulted, such as Connex and more recently National Express, are rarely if ever allowed to bid for passenger rail contracts again.

Reader Comments:

Views expressed in submitted comments are that of the author, and not necessarily shared by Railnews.

  • Ian Mc Donald, Clacton Essex, UK

    What I cannot understand is that, BR Days, at each timetable change staffing levels were examined and requirements agreed. These "new" arrangements appear to be a recipe for disaster from the outset. Why not use Continental roistering were every day is the same, weekends treated as weekdays. May be if Adonis and his regulators were a bit more rail industry savvy they could have seen these problems coming and acted so they didn't develop.

  • les Burge, leicester, england

    Run all franchises as not for profit operations.
    At least you'll cut out the payback to shareholders.
    Then Maybe the directors can concentrate on running a
    service instead of trying to make a profit for shareholders.

  • darky, Norwich, England

    I think FCC should kick out those top managers who worry more about losing the battle than winning the war & agree with the drivers union. Bite the bullet, look after your most precious asset & move on. There will be winners all round. Ignore & lose the respect of Lord Adonis & end up like the dreaded NX!!

  • andrew ganley, Sutton, england

    If FCC have run by the head of FirstGroup for the last few weeks(months)
    what odds are there ever being of running a decent railway.

    And as for Aodinis's lame statement the words 'stable' and 'door' come to mind!

  • Rob Smith, St Albans, UK

    Good to see him threaten action, but is it convincing? I cant see the government wanting to take on another rail franchise in the current climate.

  • Tim Gray, St Albans, UK

    It really is time for FCC to be burnt at the stake. An example needs to be made if only because of FCC's deliberate misreporting. There is a growing awareness that there is little or no relationship between FCC's public statements and the reality on the ground - thus a growing loss of confidence by their passengers - people are walking away from an unusable service.