Rail executives take pay and bonus rises despite strikes

RAIL bosses have been awarded significant bonuses and pay rises, it has emerged, as passengers face a further nine days of strikes from today.

Executives at private rail firms were given pay and bonuses up to £1 million last year, despite failing to enforce new laws to minimise the impact of industrial action.

The highest paid executive at Arriva – which runs Chiltern, Crosscountry, Grand Central and London Overground – was awarded £1,086,342 in salary and perks last year, a 61 per cent rise.

The audit by the Daily Mail also found the chief executive at former operator Abellio UK was handed a 35 per cent increase last year.

Bonuses of £1.3 million were shared by Firstgroup’s top executives, Graham Sutherland and Ryan Mangold, and a £540,000 bonus was paid to then chief executive of the Go-ahead Group, Christian Schreyer, in 2022.

The Government passed legislation in November allowing operators to insist on a minimum service level during strikes. However, none of the 18 operators hit by nine days of walkouts by train drivers from today is implementing the requirement to provide at least 40 per cent of normal services.

Travellers have been warned of disruption to their journeys this week as members of the drivers’ union Aslef launch a rolling programme of walkouts, and a nine-day overtime ban.

Firstgroup – owner of Great Western Railway plus a 70 per cent stake in South Western Railway and Avanti West Coast – gave top executives £1.3million in bonuses in 2022-23, weeks before it lost the Transpennine Express contract and despite poor performance at Avanti.

A Department for Transport spokesman said: “Aslef ’s leadership alone are responsible for the disruption.” A spokesman for the Rail Delivery Group, which represents operators, said: “Minimum service level legislation is one of many useful tools ... operators’ guiding principle is always to make sure they can offer the best, most reliable services possible.”

Firstgroup said the 2022-23 bonuses were driven by “strong financial performance”. Arriva said executive pay was linked to operations across Europe. Go-ahead said its rises “reflect the scope and scale of our business”.