ASLEF to pay £250,000 legal bill over GatEx dispute

Drivers’ union ASLEF must pay £250,000 in legal costs to Govia Thameslink Railway, after a final High Court ruling against industrial action over the operation of 12-car trains on Gatwick Express services under Driver Only Operation (Passenger) - DOO(P).

The Consent Order granted to GTR on June 22 ordered ASLEF to pay legal costs incurred by the train operator within 21 days of the seal date of the order. ASLEF must also accept that collective agreements between GTR and predecessors “do not preclude drivers employed by the Claimant being contractually obliged to drive 12-car DOO(P) trains on its Gatwick Express services”.

Under the terms of the order, ASLEF must not “call or induce its members to take industrial action, of any nature, pursuant to or in reliance upon the Defendant’s ballot which closed on May 23 2016. The Defendant agrees that the Claimant would be entitled to obtain appropriate injunctive relief to restrain the defendant from so doing.”

• For more on this, read RAIL 804, published on July 6.
• For an in-depth feature looking at the issues behind the industrial action, read RAIL 804, published on July 6.