The boss of Govia Thameslink Railway has quit over the rail timetable fiasco, after being singled out for blame by the transport secretary, Chris Grayling.
Network Rail executives have also forfeited annual bonuses for their role in the timetable chaos.
Charles Horton, chief executive of GTR, which includes Thameslink, Great Northern, Southern and Gatwick Express, said he recognised passengers’ huge frustration, after weeks of cancellations and severe delays to services following the introduction of new timetables on 20 May.
Horton, who has overseen a tumultuous few years on Britain’s biggest commuter franchise, including years of strikes on Southern in the row over the future of guards, will remain in post for a short period until a temporary timetable to ease the present disruption is announced in July.
GTR’s owners, the Go-Ahead group, said a successor would be announced in due course.
David Brown, group chief executive of Go-Ahead, said: “I would like to thank Charles for his hard work with Govia for the past 15 years. Under often challenging conditions, he has built a team to deliver the largest railway change programme for decades, on a franchise that is not only the UK’s biggest, but which has also the highest passenger growth.
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