06 January 2024 , 21:36
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Staff at Network Rail trousered almost £40million in bonuses last year as passengers faced misery.
Services were repeatedly halted by engineering works, yet nearly 13,000 workers got an average £3,000 each. And bosses already pocketing a fortune got average top-ups of £35,000, despite Network Rail being sanctioned for fatal safety failings.
Jeremy Westlake, chief finance officer of the agency – which does not run trains but is responsible for tracks and stations – was paid £371,000 last year, plus £19,000 as a bonus. Chief executive Andrew Haines is on £590,000 – although last year he did not take a bonus.
In September, Network Rail was fined £6.7m after admitting health and safety failings over the worst rail crash in 18 years. The derailment near Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire, in August 2020 was triggered by debris washing onto the track from a wrongly constructed drainage system. ScotRail train driver Brett McCullough, 45, conductor Donald Dinnie, 58, and passenger Christopher Stuchbury, 62, died.
CFO Jeremy WestlakeAnd a collision between two trains in Salisbury, Wiltshire, in October 2021 injured 14 people, including a driver. An investigation found Network Rail had not cleared away leaves frequently enough, affecting braking distances.
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Meanwhile, lines are regularly shut for maintenance and at Easter there were no trains on the West Coast main line between London and Birm-ingham, Manchester and Liverpool.
Christmas delays at Euston (TOLGA AKMEN/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)Bruce Williamson, of campaign group Railfuture, said: “There’s nothing wrong with paying people bonuses for good performance. The problem comes when the public perceives that the bonuses are not deserved. It clearly hasn’t been a great year for the railways and with a cost-of-living crisis and sky-high rail fares, Network Rail needs to be sensitive to public opinion.”
A Network Rail spokesman said: “Passengers are bearing the brunt of a year of mixed performance of our railway and that is borne out in significantly reduced payments where the majority of targets were missed. But some were met and employees should be recognised for those achievements in their pay packets.”