A HIGH COURT judge has ordered ASLEF not to 'induce' refusals by Gatwick Express drivers to operate 12-car trains. Govia Thameslink Railway said it was 'pleased' at the ruling, but ASLEF is balloting its members on Gatwick Express and Southern, which is also operated by GTR, while Southern services are also set to be disrupted by a separate conductors' strike from tomorrow.
Drivers have refused to work 12-car formations of the new Class 387 units without conductors, which started to come into service on the airport route at the end of February. At least two services have been cancelled. GTR says it plans to operate roughly half the Gatwick service with 12-car trains when the full fleet of 27 four-car units has been delivered from Bombardier in Derby.
Some of the new fleet was first placed in experimental service earlier this year on Thameslink between Bedford and Brighton, where the new Gatwick sets were sometimes worked in multiple with other 387s to form 12-car sets. The Thameslink route has been fully driver-only operated since 1983.
ASLEF said it was not safe to work 12-car sets on the Gatwick line, because drivers could not see that all the doors were clear and that the train could depart.
The union has also accused GTR of trying to impose 12-car working without agreement.
A spokesman for GTR said: "We are pleased that the Court has granted us an injunction that ASLEF must not induce our drivers to refuse to operate the new 12 car trains. Gatwick Express services have operated without conductors operating the doors for seventeen years, so we were never able to understand why the ASLEF union objected to the operation of these new trains in the same way.
“The new trains will offer significant benefits to passengers including a much better travelling environment. We plan that by June 50% of weekday services will operate with 12 cars and we will now commence their introduction into service.
“We took this action with great reluctance but were left with no alternative."
The RMT is also in dispute with GTR over the related issue of 12-car working on Southern, and this has led to a 48-hour strike being declared for tomorrow and Wednesday. Services on many Southern routes will be disrupted.