Abbreviation | ABC |
---|---|
Founded | 2 September 2016 |
Type | Limited company |
Registration no. | Company 10357443 |
Legal status | Active |
Website | abcommuters |
The Association of British Commuters (ABC) is a UK passenger lobby group for people who commute. [1] It was formed in September 2016 by a group of passengers, [1] disaffected by Govia Thameslink Railway's service on the Southern routes of the Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern franchise, after months of delays, cancellations, overcrowded conditions, and strikes. [2]
In 2016, lawyers for ABC launched legal action against the UK Department for Transport for decisions made by the government in their handling of Govia's train service. The Department for Transport refused to release documents relating to Southern's franchise agreement, including information about a remedial plan agreed with Govia in February 2016. [2]
Stephen Joseph, executive director of Campaign for Better Transport, believes that ABC represents "a new type of passenger lobby group organised by young professionals who are adept at using social media." [1]
The Association of British Commuters was formed in September 2016 by a group of passengers, [1] disaffected by Govia Thameslink Railway's service on the Southern routes of the Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern franchise, after months of delays, cancellations, overcrowded conditions, and strikes. [2] It was formed by Summer Dean, a freelance photographer, Emily Yates, who works in journalism and public relations, and others. [1] [3]
Lawyers for the Association of British Commuters are launching a judicial review of decisions made by the UK Department for Transport and Govia into the government’s handling of the train service. ABC held a crowdfunding campaign in September and October 2016, raising over £26,000, donated by more than 1,300 people. [2] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
In December 2016 the association organised a large demonstration at Victoria Station in the face of continuing strikes on London Transport, demanding the resignation of Transport Secretary Chris Grayling who had blocked Sadiq Khan's proposal that Transport for London should be given control of the capital's suburban railways. They marched to the Department for Transport where they called on the Government to intervene in the dispute, and for an independent inquiry into what they described as the "collapse of Southern Rail". [9]
Thameslink is a 24-hour main-line route in the British railway system, running from Bedford, Luton, St Albans City, Peterborough, Welwyn Garden City, London Blackfriars and Cambridge via central London to Sutton, Orpington, Sevenoaks, Rainham, Horsham, Three Bridges, Brighton and East Grinstead. The network opened as a through service in 1988, with severe overcrowding by 1998, carrying more than 28,000 passengers in the morning peak. All the services are currently operated by Govia Thameslink Railway.
Gatwick Express is an express rail passenger service between London Victoria, Gatwick Airport, and Brighton in South East England. It is the brand name used by the Govia Thameslink Railway train operating company on the Gatwick Express route of the Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern franchise.
Southern is the brand name used by the Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) train operating company on the Southern routes of the Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern franchise in England. It is a subsidiary of Govia, a joint venture between transport groups Go-Ahead and Keolis, and has operated the South Central franchise since August 2001 and the Gatwick Express service since June 2008. When the passenger rail franchise was subsumed into GTR, Southern was split from Gatwick Express and the two became separate brands, alongside the Thameslink and Great Northern brands.
The Department for Transport (DfT) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport matters in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland that have not been devolved. The department is run by the Secretary of State for Transport, currently, Mark Harper.
A train operating company (TOC) is the term used on the railway system of Great Britain for a railway undertaking operating passenger trains under the collective National Rail brand. TOCs have existed since the privatisation of the network under the Railways Act 1993.
The Go-Ahead Group plc is a passenger transport company based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. The majority of its operations are within the United Kingdom, Ireland, Singapore, Norway, and Germany. Go-Ahead was formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange prior to being purchased by Kinetic Group and Globalvia by 2022.
The British Rail Class 377 Electrostar is a British dual-voltage electric multiple unit passenger train (EMU) built by Bombardier Transportation on its Electrostar platform at Derby Litchurch Lane Works from 2001 to 2014.
The Southern Region was a region of British Railways from 1948 until 1992 when railways were re-privatised. The region ceased to be an operating unit in its own right in the 1980s. The region covered south London, southern England and the south coast, including the busy commuter belt areas of Kent, Sussex and Surrey. The region was largely based upon the former Southern Railway area.
Govia is a transport company based in the United Kingdom. It was formed in November 1996 as a joint venture between Go-Ahead Group (65%) and Keolis (35%) to bid for rail franchises during the privatisation of British Rail.
First Capital Connect (FCC) was a British train operating company, owned by FirstGroup, that operated the Thameslink and Great Northern sectors from April 2006 to September 2014 which later became the Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern (TSGN) franchise.
Thameslink was a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by Govia that operated the Thameslink franchise between March 1997 and March 2006.
London & South Eastern Railway Limited, trading as Southeastern, was a British train operating company owned by Govia that operated passenger rail services in South East England. It was the key operator of commuter and regional services in South East London and Kent, and also served parts of East Sussex.
The Great Northern route is the name given to suburban rail services run on the southern end of Britain's East Coast Main Line and its associated branches. Services operate to or from London King's Cross and London Moorgate in London. Destinations include Hertford North, Welwyn Garden City, Stevenage, and Cambridge, and in peak hours, additional services run to Peterborough and King's Lynn. Services run through parts of Greater London, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, and Norfolk.
London Midland was a train operating company in England which operated the West Midlands franchise between 11 November 2007 and 10 December 2017. It was owned by the British transport group Govia.
The British Rail Class 700 is an electric multiple unit passenger train from the Desiro City family built by Siemens Mobility. It is capable of operating on 25 kV 50 Hz AC from overhead wires or 750 V DC from third rail. 115 trainsets were built between 2014 and 2018, for use on the Thameslink network, as part of the Thameslink Programme in the United Kingdom. As of 2021, they are operated by Govia Thameslink Railway.
Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern (TSGN) is a management contract for the provision of passenger services on the Thameslink and Great Northern routes to Bedford, Luton, Peterborough, King's Lynn, Cambridge, London King's Cross, London Moorgate, Sutton, Wimbledon and Brighton, as well as the whole Southern network and the jointly operated First Capital Connect Southeastern services, which were added to the franchise on 25 July 2015, with the Southern and Gatwick Express brands retained.
The British Rail Class 387 Electrostar is a type of electric multiple unit passenger train built by Bombardier Transportation. They are part of the Electrostar family of trains. A total of 107 units were built, with the first train entering service with Thameslink in December 2014. The trains are currently in service with Great Western Railway, Govia Thameslink Railway, and Heathrow Express. The Class 387 is a variation of the Class 379 with dual-voltage capability which allows units to run on 750 V DC third rail, as well as use 25 kV AC OLE. The class were the final rolling stock orders from the Bombardier Electrostar family with 2,805 vehicles built over 18 years between 1999 and 2017.
Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) is a train operating company that operates the TSGN rail franchise in England. Within the franchise, GTR runs trains under the sub-brands Thameslink, Great Northern, Southern and Gatwick Express. GTR is a subsidiary of Govia, which is itself a joint venture between the British Go-Ahead Group (65%) and French company Keolis (35%).
The British Rail Class 717 Desiro City is an electric multiple unit passenger train built by Siemens Mobility, currently operated by Govia Thameslink Railway on its Great Northern Hertford Loop and Welwyn stopping routes. Built to replace Class 313 trains on services into Moorgate, a total of 25 six-car units began entering regular service from March 2019. The units are stylistically similar to the Class 700s and the Class 707s
DfT OLR Holdings (DOHL) is a holding company established by the Department for Transport in the United Kingdom to act as operator of last resort for rail franchises that are nationalised.