Commuter campaign for Southern judicial review raises £10,000 in three days

A Facebook group called the Association of British Commuters launched a campaign on Monday (September 6), to raise £25,000 for a High Court review into decision-making at the Department for Transport.

This comes after months of commuter misery, as Govia Thameslink – which runs the Southern franchise – has been locked in a dispute with the RMT union over the role of conductors.

The RMT began its fifth strike in the dispute this morning (September 9), which is set to last 48 hours.

In a statement on the Crowd Justice page, the Association of British Commuters said: “The Southern Rail crisis is making the lives of commuters a daily misery. For over 18 months we have experienced severe delays and dangerously overcrowded trains and platforms, which form a major compromise to passenger safety.

“On a rail network already stretched to capacity, this summer became a nightmare for commuters on the Southern Rail network and barely a day goes by that we don’t hear of someone losing their job or relocating their home and family due to the sheer impossibility of living with this daily catastrophe.”

It added: “We have watched the situation deteriorate for months, and still the Department for Transport have abstained from their responsibility to ensure safety and service by intervening in a franchise that is quite clearly falling apart.

“We have no confidence in the latest £20m initiative by the DfT, which appears to be no more than a sticking plaster over a failing but highly profitable private company; paid for by tax payers’ money.”

To find out more about the crowdfunding campaign, visit: www.crowdjustice.co.uk/case/southernrail/

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