London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Sep 17, 2025

New rail contract award to Go-Ahead branded ‘a sick joke’

New rail contract award to Go-Ahead branded ‘a sick joke’

Contract to run Britain’s biggest commuter rail network comes a week after £23.5m fine
The transport group Go-Ahead has been awarded a new contract to run Britain’s biggest commuter rail network – a week after being fined £23.5m for wrongly withholding £50m of taxpayers’ money on another franchise.

The rail union RMT said it was a “sick joke” that the group’s Govia joint venture was given a three-year deal to continue running the Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern franchise, which served about a million passengers daily pre-Covid.

Govia, a joint venture led by Go-Ahead with the French firm Keolis, was stripped of the Southeastern franchise by the transport secretary, Grant Shapps, last September for “breaches of good faith”.

The firm’s £23.5m fine from the Department for Transport for failings on Southeastern was less than the £30m it had set aside. Go-Ahead’s share price has risen 20% in the last week on the smaller fine and rumours of a fresh award.

The group’s chief financial officer, Elodie Brian, who was the chief financial officer at Southeastern during the period where most breaches occurred, from 2014-19, quit last September as the scandal emerged. The Go-Ahead chief executive, David Brown, also stepped down.

Investigations since found more irregularities at Southeastern, dating back to 2006. Go-Ahead eventually repaid £51.3m, including interest, of the money it had wrongly withheld in overpayments from the DfT. The case has been referred to the Serious Fraud Office.

Although senior directors worked at both franchises, an investigation led by the chairs of Go-Ahead and Keolis found no evidence that any similar accounting issues existed at Govia Thameslink Railway as Southeastern.

The general secretary of the RMT, Mick Lynch, said: “Shapps has done this having been reassured that Go-Ahead are safe with public money on the strength of a report conducted by the same people who ripped off the public in the first place.

“This was a totally unnecessary decision, driven by an ideological fixation with greed and profit because the operator of last resort, which picked up the wreckage of Govia’s Southeastern franchise, was ready and waiting to take over and run it in the public sector.”

Manuel Cortes, the TSSA general secretary, said the move “beggars belief”, adding: “Shapps is throwing good money after bad.”

The new contract starts on 1 April 2022 and will run for at least three years, with a possible three-year extension. Go-Ahead is one of the last British private firms running a UK rail network, with the state-run Operator of Last Resort now in charge at Northern and LNER as well as Southeastern.

The deal is a management contract, which, unlike franchises, has no cost risk to the operator. Govia Thameslink Railway, or GTR, will earn a fixed fee of £8.8m a year and up to £22.9m on top if it meets performance targets. The £31.7m maximum is equivalent to a margin of about 1.85%, Go-Ahead said.

The rail minister, Wendy Morton, said: “With their plans for improving the punctuality, reliability and accessibility of their services through close collaboration with Network Rail, we are proud to partner with GTR to create a truly passenger-focused service.”

Christian Schreyer, the chief executive of Go-Ahead, said: “A top priority is to build passenger numbers back after the Covid-19 pandemic. Go-Ahead will bring commercial acumen and international experience to bear in encouraging people back to the railways.”
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
French Debt Downgrade Piles Pressure on Macron’s New Prime Minister
US and UK Near Tech, Nuclear and Whisky Deals Ahead of Trump Trip
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
Anesthesiologist Left Operation Mid-Surgery to Have Sex with Nurse
Tens of Thousands of Young Chinese Get Up Every Morning and Go to Work Where They Do Nothing
The New Life of Novak Djokovic
The German Owner of Politico Mathias Döpfner Eyes Further U.S. Media Expansion After Axel Springer Restructuring
Suspect Arrested: Utah Man in Custody for Charlie Kirk’s Fatal Shooting
In a politically motivated trial: Bolsonaro Sentenced to 27 Years for Plotting Coup After 2022 Defeat
German police raid AfD lawmaker’s offices in inquiry over Chinese payments
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Volkswagen launches aggressive strategy to fend off Chinese challenge in Europe’s EV market
ChatGPT CEO signals policy to alert authorities over suicidal youth after teen’s death
The British legal mafia hit back: Banksy mural of judge beating protester is scrubbed from London court
Surpassing Musk: Larry Ellison becomes the richest man in the world
Embarrassment for Starmer: He fired the ambassador photographed on Epstein’s 'pedophile island'
Manhunt after 'skilled sniper' shot Charlie Kirk. Footage: Suspect running on rooftop during panic
Effective Protest Results: Nepal’s Prime Minister Resigns as Youth-Led Unrest Shakes the Nation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
King Charles and Prince Harry Share First In-Person Moment in 19 Months
×