Govia Thameslink boss quits weeks after timetable change causes train chaos

Thousands of commuters faced cancellations and delays after botched scheduling overhaul

Charles Horton, chief executive of Govia Thameslink Railway, has resigned, weeks after a change to timetables led to chaos on the rails with thousands of commuters left stranded.

The outgoing rail boss said: "I recognise that passengers have been hugely frustrated at the significant disruption caused by the introduction of new timetables. It is the right time to hand leadership of GTR to a new pair of hands."

GTR's parent company, Go-Ahead Group, said Mr Horton will remain in his post for a short period to oversee the development of a new, temporary timetable "to address recent disruption to services".

Go-Ahead CEO David Brown said: "I would like to thank Charles for his hard work with Govia for the past 15 years. Under often challenging conditions, he has built a team to deliver the largest railway change programme for decades, on a franchise that is not only the UK's biggest, but which has also has seen the highest passenger growth.

“We are committed to working with the Department for Transport and Network Rail to address recent problems and to deliver a reliable, punctual service for passengers.”

GTR operates Thameslink, Great Northern, Southern and Gatwick Express services. The company introduced new schedules on a number of these services in May, but the change did not go to plan, with insufficient drivers reporting for duty.

The “operational incident”, as GTR described it, led to dozens of trains being cancelled or delayed, affecting thousands of commuters across the South East.

Transport secretary Chris Grayling said GTR customers had received “totally unsatisfactory levels of service”.