Department for transport secretary to face panel over train timetable chaos

Passengers were subjected to travel chaos over the timetable shake-up Credit: ITV Meridan

Transport Secretary, Chris Grayling MP, will face a panel on Monday to give evidence as to why changes of the new train timetables caused collapse to services.

At the beginning of May, rail commuters were warned to get ready for what was billed to be the "biggest timetable shake-up in rail history".

Changes were made to timetables on Govia Thameslink Railway, Southern Railway and Gatwick Express in an attempt to improve rail efficiency in the South.

However, hundreds of thousands of passengers suffered severe chaos when subjected to an increased number of cancellations and no proper travel information.

An inquiry into the timetable shake-up by the Office of Rail and Road found that itself - along with Network Rail, Govia Thameslink Railway, the Department for Transport and Northern Railway - all made mistakes and did not handle the situation properly when the system started to fail.