Tube drivers ‘paid more than pilots’ demand four-day week

♦ Tube drivers are now earning up to £100,000 as they prepare to strike and demand a four-day working week.

Despite the automation of much of the Underground network, with trains on five of the 11 lines being automatic, pay has reached six figures in the cases of nine of Transport for London’s drivers and has overtaken the salary of many airline pilots.

The figures, released under Freedom of Information (FOI) Act to The Sunday Times, come as the main drivers’ union, Aslef, is due to call for a four-day working week in April.

The FOI request revealed that more than 3,000 drivers earned between £60,000-£70,000.

In addition to the nine drivers earning more than £100,000, there were also 30 drivers who were paid in excess of £80,000.

TFL claimed that drivers earning more than £70,000 were paid more because they also helped to train colleagues.