The Government is coming under fresh pressure to take action against Southern Railway over the spate of delays and cancellations which has caused travel misery for passengers for weeks.

The Rail, Maritime and Transport union said new Parliamentary answers showed ministers would be able to take the franchise off Govia Thameslink (GTR).

In a written parliamentary question, Labour MP Kelvin Hopkins asked the Transport Secretary "whether the emergency timetable for Southern Rail services to be introduced from 11 July 2016 is in breach of the level of planned service train cancellations set out in the Remedial Plan agreed between Govia Thameslink Railway and his Department in February 2016".

Shortly before she resigned, rail minister Claire Perry responded: "Under the Franchise Agreement, where GTR can provide the evidence that cancellations are due to official or unofficial industrial action, they can claim Force Majeure which they have done."

Force Majeure is a term used to define extraordinary events beyond the control of the organisation effected.

At the Transport Select Committee on Wednesday, the Department for Transport director Peter Wilkinson seemed to be unaware of the minister's answer, said the union.

RMT general secretary Mick Cash said: "There is no excuse whatsoever for the Government wasting any more time in pulling the plug on the basket-case Govia Thameslink operation.

"It has failed, it continues to fail and they should be terminated with immediate effect and Directly Operated Railways drafted in to sort out the chaos they have unleashed.

"If the Government allow GTR to bend the rules yet again to avoid termination it would be a gross betrayal of their responsibilities to the hundreds of thousands of people caught up in this colossal privatisation failure."

Charles Horton, chief executive of GTR, faced pressure from passengers on Thursday morning at a "meet the manager" event at London Victoria station.

The rail company has cut 341 journeys a day from its timetable after weeks of staff shortages, sickness and industrial action.

Rail Minister Paul Maynard said: "The situation with Southern services absolutely must improve and I am pleased that it is beginning to reinstate some of the trains suspended to manage the impact of the RMT action.

"Right now, simply changing the management will not help because that would not address the issues in dispute and would only cause further disruption. We have been clear that the real solution is for the RMT to bring this dispute to a close. The unofficial disruption and guards going off sick has caused daily misery for passengers."