Southern rail boss resigns after disastrous timetable launch

Charles Horton announced today that he would be stepping down from his position with the much maligned train company following months of controversy over delays and cancellations to services.

He will remain as the chief executive of GTR, which operates Southern rail, for a ‘few weeks’ before handing over the role to his successor.

Services on GTR’s Southern and Northern franchises have suffered huge delays since a new timetable was introduced last month.

Mike Cash, General Secretary of RMT union, said: ‘Mr Horton may now have gone but the rotten franchise he was steering remains in place and no change at the top will alter that.

‘This whole basket case operation is a failure on every level.’

Announcing his resignation today, Mr Horton 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.

‘I am immensely proud of my team and I would like to thank my 7,000 colleagues at GTR for all their hard work over the past four years.’

GTR completely overhauled the timetable on all of its services, including Southern rail, on May 20 but the move resulted in widespread disruption for customers.

In a letter to staff, Mr Horton added: ‘In my view, this was an industry-wide failure of the timetabling process. But with leadership comes responsibility and so I feel it is only right that I step down.

‘Before my departure in a few weeks’ time, I will continue to work with my colleagues to ensure a smooth handover as we work to put our railway back on track and give our passengers a reliable service once again.

‘Finally, I would like to say that I am very proud of all of you GTR colleagues.

‘Our mission is the most challenging on the entire railway and I believe that in time the changes we are making will come to be recognised as a turning point which began to turn around the Southern, Thameslink and Great Northern routes after years of under-investment.’

Under his tenure as chief executive, Southern rail has faced a series of strikes over train guards.

Speaking following Mr Horton’s resignation, Transport Salaried Staffs Association general secretary Manuel Cortes said he would ‘shed no tears for him’.

‘This really is not before time,’ He explained. ‘We’ve seen at least two years of passenger protests against the rail chaos at Southern, Thameslink and Great Northern and instead of offering reasonable solutions,

‘Horton has never taken responsibility, but blamed unions and anyone else he could think of other than himself.

‘This resignation really should mark the beginning of the end of Transport Secretary Chris Grayling.

‘Horton is part of his misnamed leadership team. I shed no tears for him, but if he’s admitting defeat for the biggest and longest disruption to rail timetables in peacetime history, then it’s because the system is beyond redemption.

‘He’s fallen on his sword. It’s time Grayling fell on his.’

David Brown, group chief executive of GTR’s parent company, Go-Ahead, praised Mr Horton for his hardwork with the rail company over the years.

‘I would like to thank Charles for his hard work with Govia for the past 15 years,’ he said.

‘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.’