Southern and Thameslink trains most likely to be hit by staff shortages

If the worst excuse for late-running train services is 'the wrong kind of sunshine'. The second-worst is to run out of staff - a situation which, pandemics aside, is least likely to be caused by acts of god and most likely to be caused by poor management and planning.

So guess which operator has the worst record for crew shortages in the country? The BBC reports:

Crew shortages cause almost one in 10 delays and cancellations on Britain's railways, the BBC has learned.

They accounted for 9.42% of 1.93 million delays and cancellations from 1 April 2013 to 12 December 2015, figures from the Office of Rail and Road show.

Govia Thameslink Railway - which operates Southern, Thameslink and Gatwick Express services - had the highest rate, at 13.59%.

The TfL takeover can't come soon enough. Thanks to Hugh for the story.