Southern train drivers reject £75k pay deal

A £75,000-a-year pay offer for Southern train drivers involved in a bitter 14-month dispute has been rejected.

About 1,000 drivers were offered the bumper pay rise – equivalent to a 23.8 per cent increase over four years – but talks ended yesterday without agreement.

Thousands of passengers now face fresh rounds of disruption as union Aslef has ordered a resumption of the drivers’ overtime ban from next Thursday.

Southern and its parent company Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) are desperate to end the dispute which began over safety concerns at changes to the role of guards and plans for driver-only trains.

Critics have pointed out that more than half of Britain’s trains already have doors operated by drivers.

The deal would have meant basic salaries for a 35-hour, four-day week rise from £49,001 to £60,683. But most drivers work a regular fifth day as overtime for an extra 25 per cent pay, meaning salaries would be topped up with an additional £15,000.

A GTR spokesman said: ‘The Aslef leadership has twice accepted the extension of driver-controlled operation and asked us this time to package it with a pay deal.’

Aslef denied asking for a pay rise and said no decision on the offer had been made.