Sadiq Khan calls for temporary nationalisation of Southern Railway after commuter misery

'Passengers are paying thousands of pounds for a service that rather than being ‘turn up and go’ has become ‘turn up and hope’'

London Mayor Sadiq Khan has called for Southern Railway to come under temporary public ownership after angry commuters protested the train service cancelling 340 trains a day.

The mayor has also called on ministers to speed up the process of shifting the responsibility for inner suburban rail services to Transport for London.

Trains in and out of London have been subject to severe delays and cancellations after Southern Railway was hit by staff shortages and strikes, leading to an ‘emergency timetable’ having been put in place that saw 15 per cent of trains cancelled.

Mr Khan has said he is “appalled” at the chaos the service has caused for commuters and has said Govia Thameslink, which currently owns Southern, should be stripped of the franchise. He has called on the Government to take temporary responsibility for the service.

“I am appalled at the unceasing misery that Southern Rail has inflicted on tens of thousands of passengers, and I share their outrage at the lack of action to address it,” the mayor said.

“Passengers are paying thousands of pounds for a service that rather than being ‘turn up and go’ has become ‘turn up and hope’.

“Their frustration at such a disgraceful level of service is obvious and it is justified.

"This utter mess is now an embarrassment to our city, it is an insult to hard-working Londoners who pay their fares and it must be fixed.

“That is why I am calling on the Government to strip Southern of its franchise and take over the temporary responsibility of running these services.”

Mr Khan has also called on ministers to move faster in handing over inner suburban rail services to Transport for London, in order to improve services for commuters.

"My team is ready and willing to work with the Government on transferring responsibility for those services to Transport for London in a far speedier fashion,” he said.

More than 100 dissatisfied commuters held a protest at Victoria station on Monday, holding up placards that read ‘#SouthernFail’, ‘we pay, you delay’ and ‘stand up to Southern – like we have to on their trains’.

In response to Mr Khan's comments, a Spokesperson from Southern said: "Our focus is resolving the immediate issues to restore the services that passengers rightly expect, not arguments about political control.

"We apologise unreservedly to passengers for the quality of service they're experiencing. We are comitted to a long-term franchise, reporting to the Department for Transport."