Tri-Service

4,000 Squaddies Could Become Replacement Bus Drivers

"We should be doing more... to help passengers... left stranded in these strikes. Bringing in troops to help with alternative transport seems to be an obvious thing we should be doing".

So said Tory MP for East Worthing and Shoreham Tim Loughton.

Defence minister Mike Penning has said that 4,000 military personnel are trained to drive a bus or coach and could therefore potentially be used for replacement bus services for those affected by the disruption.

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling had a meeting with Tory MPs and the Prime Minister on Monday to discuss responses to the continued strike action.

According to the Telegraph, ministers lobbied Tory MPs representing those in the most affected constituencies to use troops as replacement drivers.

There is a history of forces personnel stepping in during strikes.

"Green goddess" replacement fire trucks were deployed with forces personnel during the firefighter strikes of 1977 and 2002.

Passengers may also be compensated for parking fees, having had to pay up to £13 a day to only then be delayed hours for lack of a proper train service.

Professor Dave Cooper of the University of Chichester has said that a conservative estimate puts the cost of the 27 days of strikes by the RMT and Aslef unions at £300 million.

Southern is part of Govia Thameslink Railway and was given a seven-year contract in 2014.

As one of the terms of the contract, the government bears the financial risk to Govia caused by the disruption caused by the redeveloping of London Bridge station.

To facilitate this, ticket sales have been paid to the government while it in turn has paid Southern £1 billion a year to run the service.

The £1 billion payment has remained as per the contract, but the huge service disruption means that the government is not making back all of its money.

There is a clause in the contract for a penalty fee to the company for poor services, but that has only managed to claw back £2 million from a total of £53 million lost by the government so far in the disruption.