Transport Secretary Chris Grayling working on top ‘secret nationalisation’ of Southern Rail after strikes and months of commuter hell

UNION chiefs are demanding answers after claims the Government is on verge of taking back control of troubled Southern Rail.

Industry insiders said a top secret nationalisation plan was being worked on by the Transport Secretary Chris Grayling after months of industrial unrest.

Whitehall chiefs are said to be seeking a “managed exit” to take direct control of the  franchise until a new contract can be drawn up.

The newsletter  said the plan even had its own code name and a potential interim managing director has been identified

Rail Business Intelligence said one option being studied was to split the troubled Southern network from its parent company Govia Thameslink Railway.

The news came as talks continued between union Aslef and Southern to try to resolve a row over driver only trains.

The dispute has caused months of travel chaos for millions of commuters in the South East, who have also had to deal with staff shortages.

A small number of members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union at Southern went on strike on Wednesday and will walk out again on Friday.

RMT general secretary Mick Cash said: “Instead of dragging this farce out any longer the Government should now do the decent thing, pull the plug on the GTR contract, take the lines under public control and draw a line under this shambles that shames Britain’s railways.”

He added: “Transport Secretary Chris Grayling should stop pussy-footing about, get his act together and get Southern/GTR off the tracks before more damage is done.”

The Transport Salaried Staffs Association, added: “Anyone who uses either Southern or Thameslink knows that Govia Thameslink Railways shouldn’t be allowed to run a bath never mind train companies.

General Secretary Manual Cortes went on: “I hope this will now happen and for once, failing Grayling won’t chicken out - but I won’t be holding my breath.”

Meanwhile Tory peer Lord Lucas said the Government should convert the Southern Rail network into a roadway for driverless cars, in comments that were likely to further infuriate rail unions.

A senior Government source insisted last night: “There is no secret code name.”

The Department for Transport said: “There are no plans to strip GTR of the franchise.”

A DfT spokesperson said: “There are no plans to strip GTR of the franchise. This is pure speculation.”