The company behind Southern Rail will take a bigger-than-expected hit from the worst strike in a generation that has crippled the network and caused misery for hundreds of thousands of commuters.
Go-Ahead group said that it had been “heavily impacted by industrial action” and that for the six months to December revenues on Govia Thameslink Railway, which runs Southern, fell by 4 per cent.
A fall in passenger numbers has accelerated in recent months, with journeys down 2 per cent, compared with 0.5 per cent in the first quarter.
There were extra costs due to the strike in the Govia Thameslink business, in which Go-Ahead has a 65 per cent stake. Together with higher costs of bid work in overseas markets, this meant its full-year expectations for the rail division were “slightly below” its previous forecast.
In the latest fallout from an eight-month dispute with unions, all of Southern’s 2,242 weekday services were cancelled on Tuesday and Wednesday, causing more misery for its 300,000 passengers. Talks to resolve the dispute were unsuccessful yesterday.
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In yesterday’s trading update the company said that it was seeking to provide the “best possible service to customers under the circumstances”. Elsewhere in the group’s rail division, passenger journeys on the Southeastern network were up 2 per cent, and up 4 per cent on London Midland trains.
While revenue was up 2.5 per cent and 5.5 per cent respectively, the group said growth was slowing on Southeastern, in line with industry trends.
In its bus operations Go-Ahead said revenues in the regions were expected to rise 1 per cent in the first half, held back by “weakness” in the northeast, with 2.5 per cent growth in London.
Analysts remained upbeat yesterday with Jefferies saying the implications of the strike were negligible and cutting rail forecasts by £6 million, with the chaos at Southern estimated to cost £3 million.
Shares in Go-Ahead were up 60p to £21.90 yesterday.