Details revealed of proposed Aslef union deal which could end 18 months of Southern Rail commuter misery

Southern train drivers are to balloted over the proposed deal.
PA Wire/PA Images
Francesca Gillett20 October 2017

The details of a proposed deal which could end more than a year of misery for Southern Rail commuters has been revealed.

If accepted, the deal would conclude a bitter 18-month row with Southern’s owners Govia Thameslink Railway over driver-only trains – the longest in railway history.

The proposal is for a 28 per cent pay rise and agreement that trains will have a second, safety-trained, person on board except in "exceptional circumstances."

It is understood that following months of talks, these have been reduced to three exceptions, to start on January 2.

The exceptions include: late notification of sickness, defined as less than two hours before booking on time; OBS displaced by service disruption, late running trains or being left behind on a platform; and OBS unable to continue duty having started work - for example, through sickness or having to leave the service to help a passenger or deal with an emergency.

The proposed deal is believed to read: "In all of the above circumstances, arrangements must be made to restore OBS presence to the service in question at the earliest opportunity."

Neither Aslef or Southern would comment on the exceptional circumstances included in the proposal.

The ballot result will be announced on November 8.

The Rail, Maritime and Transport union remains in dispute with Southern over the role of guards.

Additional reporting by Press Association.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in