Booming Go-Ahead says sorry for timetable shake-up chaos and letting down customers

GO-AHEAD Group today apologised for the transport mayhem that followed a timetable shake-up in May, a bungled overhaul that saw millions of London journeys disrupted or abandoned.

The buses and trains giant said that the “implementation of these changes let down some of our customers and, alongside our industry partners, we take collective responsibility for the shortfall against expected service levels”.

It said the “ripple effect” of one train delay means even small glitches are amplified.

Those affected customers might be irritated to see that the company is booming. Its shares rose nearly 20% as the City digested a 6.5% rise in annual profits to £146 million.

Chief executive David Brown said none of those profits come from the troubled Thameslink railway business.

He said: “We only make a profit if we do the right thing.” He defended the group’s investment in London transport, saying, “for everything people would say, if you look around you are in a brand new train, you’ve got a brand new station at London Bridge”.

The shares jumped 250p to 1885p, valuing the business at £706 million. A full-year dividend of 103p per share is maintained.

Go-Ahead lost the London Midland franchise last year, a “disappointment” it admitted. It still runs the Southeastern and Great Northern franchises. It could face fines from the Department for Transport over the Thameslink failures.

While the buses arm is much more profitable than trains, Brown says there is no chance of ditching the trains arm. “Rail is what we do, we are an effective contractor,” he said.

Brown said British tracks are the most congested in Europe and that running them successfully helps Go-Ahead win contracts overseas. Customer satisfaction rates for the regional bus services hit 91%, the highest ever recorded.