ABC is a transport pressure group founded in Brighton in May 2016, in response to intolerably poor service from Southern Rail. We thought we had reached our last resort in September and launched a legal crowdfunder for a judicial review of the DfT’s handling of Southern Rail, its close subcontractor.
Little did we know then how much worse things would get.
Our lawyers spent months in correspondence with the DfT; receiving highly unsatisfactory responses and repeated, time-wasting extensions to our FOI requests. To this day, the details of the government’s contract with Southern Rail remain under lock and key; and there has never been a stronger or more urgent case for transparency than now.
With vast amounts of material to prepare, our lawyers continued to work intensively on the case and we are now on the brink of applying to Court to take the judicial review forward. The details of our final grounds will hit the press by mid-January.
Though we cannot yet share details of our final grounds, the case is sure to take on Chris Grayling’s refusal to act in the public interest, and the details of the unprecedented failure of public policy behind Southern Rail’s ‘management contract’. We are also extremely concerned about the lack of disabled access on Southern Rail, a problem that has run throughout this year of service breakdown and is set to become a lot worse with the chaotic changes to staffing now taking place.
Our campaign took on the failure and mismanagement of Southern Rail before the industrial action even became an issue. With the industrial action on top of the collapsed service we have lived through all year, one marvels at the extent of Chris Grayling’s dereliction of duty as hundreds of thousands of people suffer and the entire economy of the South has been brought to a standstill.
To donate to the campaign or purchase ABC badges, click here.
abcommuters.com 
This is the result of lots of hard work. It is a welcome announcement and a positive message for rail users everywhere. The preparation of this application has required a lot of dedication and expertise. Thank you.
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Thank you for your succinct update and for all your hard work. I am lucky enough to be semi retired, so I don’t have to endure what others do every day. However with many family and friends living in London who have been prevented from or hassled by getting to us in Hove by train I am very pleased this campaign is continuing. Here’s more power to our collective elbows!
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