‘Third of railway workers’ earn £50K-plus amid fury at strikes

RAILWAY workers earn 70 per cent above the national average, including £13,000 more than nurses, transport chiefs said last night amid fury at the first national train strike in 30 years.

The Government questioned the motives of Britain’s most militant union in calling a strike after less than two weeks of talks over pay and job cuts.

A senior No10 source said almost a third of those working on the railways paid tax at the higher rate, meaning they earn more than £50,000.

Figures released by the Department for Transport showed that last year the median salary of rail workers was £44,000, about 70 per cent above the national average of £26,000. By comparison, nurses earned £31,000, teachers were paid £37,000 and care workers just £17,000. Police officers at the rank of sergeant and below earned £42,000.

Grant Shapps, the Transport Secretary, accused the RMT of “jumping the gun” by announcing strikes on June 21.

Mick Lynch, the RMT’S general secretary, said his members had been “treated appallingly” and in the face of “a cost of living crisis” had no choice but to “shut down the railway system”.

But Whitehall insiders accuse the union of barely entering talks. In an interview with a rail magazine, Mr Lynch accused the Government of using Covid as “a smokescreen” to force through “permanent changes to working practices and conditions” and he was fighting for his “members’ lifestyles”.

The Government accused the RMT of trying to cling on to outdated “Spanish practices” that include a system for voluntary working on Sundays that dates back to 1919 and demands to keep ticket offices at stations at similar levels to 30 years ago. Insiders say fewer than one in seven tickets is now bought at offices.

During the pandemic, taxpayers bailed out the railways with £16billion worth of subsidies to keep trains running. Officials believe “long-term inefficiencies and outdated practices” have led to rising costs and that the railway industry needs dramatic reform.

The RMT has been accused of timing the strikes to maximise disruption with tens of thousands of revellers heading for Glastonbury on June 23 as well as concerts and sporting events.

But inside Government there is a belief that with so many white-collar workers not commuting, the impact of the strike may not be so dramatic.

Most power plants in the UK run off gas, nuclear or wind energy and are not dependent on rail supply lines.

Ministers believe services on modernised stretches will still run but older stretches will shut on strike days.

The RMT said the earnings of railway workers cited by DFT is based on a “skewed sample” that includes drivers who belong to a different union, Aslef.