Southeastern trains taken over by government after franchise breach

If the petrol queue traffic jams have made you want to get on a train instead, look away now: you might end up travelling on the Operator of Last Resort.

That’s because the Southeastern rail operator has been stripped of its franchise for failing to declare £25 million of taxpayer funding that should have been returned.

Services across its network will now be run by the government instead, while more options are being considered, including financial penalties.