OUTRAGE AT PAY RISES FOR RAIL FAT CATS
BRITAIN’S fat cat rail bosses enjoyed bumper pay rises last year taking their average salary to more than double that of the Prime Minister, it can be revealed.
The train chiefs’ increases averaged six per cent – £20,000 – meaning they typically earned £344,000 each. But the highest paid received £1.2million.
Theresa May’s salary as Prime Minister overseeing the vital Brexit negotiations is less than £150,000.
The details were revealed by analysis of the accounts of 13 separate rail companies which run Britain’s biggest networks.
Figures showed that the best paid boss of a rail and transport group, was Go-Ahead’s chief executive David Brown who earned £1.2million last year, up 50 per cent.
At Govia Thameslink, which faced calls to lose its franchise after repeated delays, one director was paid £482,000, a rise of one per cent.
The best-paid director of Frenchowned Keolis (UK), was given a 12 per cent increase taking their pay package to £419,500.
First Greater Western’s accounts reveal that the top-earning director received £452,000 last year, including a £192,000 bonus – a rise of 37 per cent or £123,000 on 2016.
The best-paid executive at Richard Branson’s Virgin Rail took home £467,000. They were given a four per cent rise despite the collapse of its East Coast rail service with Stagecoach. Revelations of the huge sums earned by bosses of train companies that have been slammed for condemning passengers to expensive, overcrowded, late running and delayed journeys emerged on the same day that commuters were hit by news that their rail fares are being hiked by an average of 3.1 per cent next year.
It follows a year in which harsh weather conditions caused rail disruption, while the introduction of new timetables in May caused widespread chaos. Services only improved when reduced emergency timetables were introduced. Passengers also had to contend with a series of strikes over the role of guards.
The details also come less than 24 hours after the rail watchdog slammed Network Rail for its management of the system.
The Office of Rail and Road announced it was taking action against Network Rail for its management of the system, in part for its poor record of reliability.
The cost of many rail season tickets will increase by more than £100 from January despite punctuality slipping to a 12-year low this summer.
Rip-off
Mick Cash, general secretary of the RMT union, said: “We are constantly being told there is not enough money to employ station staff and guards, but when it comes to boardroom pay on Britain’s rip-off railways the sky’s the limit.
“This news will just add to passenger anger after the latest fare hike.”
Paul Plummer, chief executive of the industry body Rail Delivery Group, said: “Money from fares is underpinning the improvements to the railway that passengers want and which ultimately help boost the wider economy.
“That means more seats, extra services and better connections.”
A Department for Transport spokesman said that “any fare increase is unwelcome”, but insisted it is “not fair to ask people who do not use trains to pay more for those who do”.
He added: “Taxpayers already subsidise the network by more than £4billion a year – meaning that 54 per cent of our transport budget is spent on the 2 per cent of journeys that the railway accounts for.”
Shadow transport secretary Andy McDonald claimed the increase in fares shows “a government and rail industry out of touch with passenger concerns”.