Connex is on the way out and a new firm will run most of our trains - but will we notice the difference?

Govia staff were yesterday celebrating after the company was handed the troubled South Central franchise.

But the company, expected to take over from Connex next year, does not have an unblemished record when it comes to safety and punctuality.

The Paddington train disaster, in which 31 people lost their lives, undermined public confidence in the privatised rail industry.

Fires ripped through the carriages after two trains collided at a combined speed of 100mph.

Survivors described the sound of the impact as "between an explosion and thunder" as the Thames and Great Western trains collided near the station at Ladbroke Grove in London.

The Cullen Inquiry was set up in May to discover how the accident could have occurred and to ensure it could never happen again.

Although the inquiry is not likely to publish its findings for some time, already Govia, which operated the Thames train involved in the disaster, has been criticised for poor levels of driver training.

The inquiry heard how the driver of the Thames Turbo was said to have been given little knowledge of routes into Paddington and serious questions were raised about the firm's commitment to training.

While there will be few tears shed about Connex's loss of the South Central franchise, a passengers' watchdog group is concerned Govia is not doing all it could to ensure passenger safety.

Govia, which runs Thameslink, was the company which put in the franchise bid. The Go-Ahead group, which also runs Thames Trains, owns 65 per cent of Govia while the rest is held by Via Carienne, owned in turn by SNCF, the national French rail operator.

Wendy Toms, chairman of the Rail Passengers Committee for Southern England, said: "We congratulate Govia on winning the new South Central franchise.

"At the same time, we are aware that this company does not have an unblemished track record either.

"A study by the Railway Inspectorate, whose findings were published last year, showed that at the time of their investigations into signals passed at danger, Thameslink had not held safety briefings with drivers for 18 months.

"While this serious deficiency was rectified in September 1998, it is worrying that it was allowed to happen - and evidence about the supervision and training procedures for Thames drivers given to the Cullen Inquiry suggested that Govia needs to give much more attention to safety training, supervision and monitoring.

"We gather it has given undertakings about this to the Shadow Strategic Rail Authority (SSRA), which must ensure that it fulfils them."

It is not just the safety aspect that concerns Ms Toms but Thameslink's record in cancellations.

She said: "Passengers in Balcombe were understandably incensed when Thameslink last year removed their stop from a peak-hour service from London Bridge on the grounds that it was making arrivals at Brighton late and delaying a Connex train behind it.

"While my committee appreciates that there is a demand for fast services to and from London, we do not want this achieved by sacrificing stops in rural areas. This would simply force more passengers on to the roads as they drive to stations with better services and worsen car parking problems there.

"Like Connex, Thameslink has faced financial penalties for running trains with fewer carriages than planned - something that can cause serious overcrowding for passengers.

"It is, moreover, serving a much smaller market than Connex and Govia will now face stiffer challenges than ever before."

In the rail sector, Go-Ahead has been one of the poorest-performing operating companies with punctuality levels that have, at times, been lower than Connex's much-criticised performance. Three league tables have been compiled by the SSRA since it was set up last year and in the first two, Go-Ahead's franchises trailed behind Connex when it came to punctuality.

It was only late last year that Thames Trains overtook Connex, but Thameslink was still behind.

Govia has now given an undertaking that by the year 2005, nine out of ten trains will arrive within five minutes of the scheduled time, rising to 15 out of 16 trains by 2010. Just over 80 per cent of Connex's Sussex trains arrived on time.

Ms Toms added: "While Govia has committed itself to the long-overdue electrification of the Uckfield line, it has told us that it thinks the economic case for reopening the lines between Uckfield and Lewes is 'at best marginal'.

However, it has agreed with the SSRA that it will carry out a study into the case for restoring the line.

"Meanwhile, existing traffic congestion on the roads on and around these two routes will simply get worse, and the isolation of the very old and the very young will increase because of poor public transport."

Lewes Lib Dem MP Norman Baker said: "Rail users should not pop the champagne corks yet.

"Connex did itself no favours by getting the simple things wrong - running dirty trains, antagonising their divers and missing punctuality targets.

"But Govia's Thameslink service has not been without its problems either. I hope the change of franchise will result in improvement, but the jury must still be out."

Go-Ahead's record on the roads has been more impressive with millions of pounds invested in its bus companies - although a shortage of bus drivers peculiar to the South East has hit some services.

It is not surprising then that Govia is making much of its plans to integrate bus and train services where possible.

The Go-Ahead Group was formed following a management buy-out from the state-owned Northern Bus Company in 1987. Since then, deregulation has allowed it to expand bus services, primarily into London and the South East.

It now operates in Tyne and Wear, County Durham, Oxford, High Wycombe, London and Brighton and Hove. The Newcastle-based firm bought Brighton and Hove Bus and Coach Company for £5 million in November 1993, followed by Brighton Transport for £6 million almost four years later.

It now operates a fleet of more than 230 buses and coaches in the towns and has received numerous awards for its service record.

Trophies for its low pollution record, passenger-friendly buses and customer services have all been picked up in the past few years and managing director Roger French picked up the Sussex Businessman of the Year Award.

Despite this, the firm has been plagued by recruitment problems that led to some services being cut in the summer.

The Wycombe Bus Company was bought by Go-Ahead in 1994. Before Go-Ahead's arrival in Buckinghamshire, the firm was in crisis. Two years before, it had pulled numerous school and village services and made a fifth of its drivers redundant after revealing it was running at a £300,000 loss.

There were fears that the Oxford Bus Company, which had bought out the smaller firm, was deliberately winding it down, but the firm's fortunes have been turned around with investment in new low-floor vehicles and bus stop infrastructure.