c2c to bring certainty to running of services

A special timetable is being introduced on the c2c route to provide a robust service to customers in spite of continued action by the RMT to disrupt services.

On Mondays to Fridays from 10 September, c2c will operate a special revised timetable, which will remain unchanged until the dispute with the RMT, over the introduction of Driver Only Operation (DOO) trains, is over. This will give passengers reassurance as to the availability of their service and enable them to plan journeys in advance.

The new timetable will provide around 80% passenger capacity compared with the normal timetable and this will be achieved by running slightly fewer trains but increasing the number of carriages on many trains during the peak periods from 4 to 8 or 8 to 12. Other improvements compared with earlier "special" timetables for customers include:

• All c2c stations will have a rail service (except Barking during the peak periods Monday-Friday because of capacity issues: passengers travelling to/from Barking are advised to use the District Line service from Upminster or West Ham).

• A shuttle service will run between Grays and Upminster calling at Chafford Hundred and Ockenden. Customers for London are advised to change at Upminster where there will be a more frequent service and longer trains.

• c2c's decision to introduce a permanent special timetable follows the RMT's imposition of a rest day and overtime ban.

The on-going but short notice advice of industrial action has meant that c2c passengers have not known from one week to the next what their service would be. As the action would also affect Saturdays, a Sunday timetable will run on the route on Saturdays from 15 September until further notice.

Commenting on the arrangements Managing Director Dominic Booth said "The special timetable removes uncertainty and allows passengers to plan ahead. It is extremely frustrating, however, for our customers and for ourselves that this action should be necessary in the first place. The RMT has no grounds for continuing the dispute. c2c invested heavily in the route to introduce new trains and improve services, and reached a signed agreement with the RMT as to how that service would operate. The RMT reneged on that agreement.

We then agreed that all industrial action would be suspended pending the publication of an independent report the findings of which would be binding on both c2c and the RMT. The RMT withdrew from that agreement.

At c2c we are ready to talk to the RMT at any time in order to bring this dispute, which has affected our passengers so much, to an end. In the meantime our customers, as always, come first and we believe that the timetable we will be using for the foreseeable future will better meet the requirements of our customers than the mixture off normal and short notice ad hoc timetables. It will provide the certainty they need until the RMT start acting responsibly and bring this totally unjustified dispute to an end."

Details of the service will be available at stations from Friday, on this website or from station staff and by phoning 08457 48 49 50.