ScotRail director paid £286k (and they won’t even tell you who he is)
SCOTLAND’s under-fire rail operator has increased the salary of its highest paid director to £286,000 a year.
The fatcat now earns more than Prime Minister Theresa May and First Minister Nicola Sturgeon combined, newly published accounts for Abellio ScotRail show.
But the firm – which has been repeatedly criticised for increasing fares while travellers are plagued by delays – will not reveal who is raking in the cash.
According to sources, the highest-paid director is normally the finance director – a role filled by Kenny McPhail until last year and by James Downey since January. Whoever the employee is, they now even earn more than ScotRail’s managing director, Alex Hynes, whose basic salary last year was £255,000.
Last night, the scale of the pay packet was condemned by unions and politicians.
Mick Hogg of the RMT Scotland union said: ‘It’s an absolute scandal. ScotRail keep telling us they’re employing more people, making record levels of investment... in other words, that they are skint.
‘But when it comes to paying directors vast amounts, it does not seem to be a problem.’
Scottish Labour transport spokesman Colin Smyth said: ‘Passengers will be angry that ScotRail bosses are awarding themselves inflationbusting pay rises while they have to fork out more in fares for trains which often arrive late or not at all. It’s time for the SNP Transport Secretary [Michael Matheson] to get a grip on fatcat pay.’
Only 81.8 per cent of ScotRail trains were on time between September 16 and October 13.
ScotRail promised 26 refurbished, high-speed trains would improve commutes but these have been affected by delays.
Older models – which empty toilet waste on the tracks – have been used to plug service gaps. Despite such problems, passengers face annual fare increases in January, with peak travel rising by 3.2 per cent and off-peak by 2.2 per cent.
Abellio ScotRail also suffered a £15 million loss last year – up from £3.3 million in 2016.
Managing director Alex Hynes was hired on a basic salary of £255,000, paid by Network Rail.
In 2016, ScotRail’s highest paid director received a salary of £268,000. The 2017 figure is 7 per cent higher than that. However it is understood that they are different people and it is not the result of a pay rise.
A ScotRail spokesman said: ‘We do not comment on the salaries of individual people.’
A Transport Scotland spokesman said: ‘We have no direct say or influence in salaries for directors at Abellio. It is a separate process from the franchise agreement.
‘Despite some challenges, many caused by Network Rail infrastructure issues over which they have no direct control, ScotRail is the best performing large operator in the UK. However, Abellio ScotRail know they must do better.’