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Commuter Groups Disapprove Reappointment Of Transport Secretary
15 - Jun - 2017

Commuter Groups Disapprove Chris Grayling’s Reappointment as Transport Secretary

Commuter groups are outraged by the reappointment of Chris Grayling as transport secretary in Theresa May’s cabinet, following the general election.

They said Mr Grayling had been “rewarded for failure,” this happening at a period when railway service is experiencing the worst crisis in decades.

Rail workers unions, RMT and Aslef have been in dispute with Southern rail over driver-only operated trains, which has led to major disruptions in the service, causing chaos in several occasions.

The Department for Transport (DfT) has defended Mr. Grayling’s reappointment, saying he has prioritised on the network since he was first appointed transport secretary.

Association of British Commuters’ Martin Abrams of the said: "We are outraged that the transport secretary that has presided over the worst crisis we have seen on our railways for decades has been essentially rewarded for failure and reappointed at a time when we need a fresh pair of eyes."

The RMT union has called on Mr Grayling to change his approach in handling the network’s affairs, adding that he lacks political acuity and is “out of his depth in the role.”

The union’s regional organiser in the South East Paul Cox said: "Mr Grayling has refused point blank to speak to us in the past. I just plead with him to speak to us about rail safety."

In response, DfT said it was ready to hold talks with the union, if they suspended the strike, adding: "Performance on Southern has been consistently better since the new year...

"We have taken steps to improve services on Southern and are investing £300m to improve performance and resilience.

"Nearly 60,000 Southern passengers have now taken up a special package of compensation [and they] are also the first in the country to benefit from compensation if their train is more than 15 minutes late."

Some MPs have come out to defend the embattled Grayling, with Conservative MP for Reigate Crispin Blunt saying he believed he was the right man for the job.

Mr Cox called on the government to publish  a long-awaited report by transport expert Chris Gibb. DfT said the report would be published in due course.

By Airport Pickups London