The boss of Network Rail is set to receive a £50,000 bonus, despite overseeing a sharp rise in the number of trains cancelled or running late over the past 12 months.
Mark Carne is in line for a large reward — taking his overall pay to £820,000 — even though the taxpayer-funded company admitted that “significant improvement” in train performance was required.
The disclosure was made in the track operator’s annual report published yesterday, which showed it had missed almost all targets for punctuality over the past 12 months.
Figures showed that 87.6 per cent of passenger trains were on time in 2016-17, compared with 89.1 per cent 12 months earlier. This means that on the average day last year the equivalent of almost 3,000 services ran late.
Only seven out of 24 train companies achieved a decent level of punctuality in 2016-17, the report said, compared with a target of 12.
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Network Rail defended its record yesterday, insisting that it had met almost all “significant project milestones” to upgrade the railways, with a record £3.9 billion being spent to improve tracks, signalling and stations.
However, the disclosure is likely to add to anger over big salaries on Britain’s railways, where since 2010 fares have risen on average by a quarter.
Mr Carne’s total package, including salary, benefits and pension, rose by 1 per cent, from £811,000 in 2015-16. His £820,000 deal includes a £50,000 bonus, which will be deferred for three years and is subject to performance reviews. The bonus increased from £47,000 in 2015-16.
It also emerged that Sir Peter Hendy, the Network Rail chairman, was paid £502,000 in his first full year in the role.
The salaries were published 24 hours before the government was expected to announce today that it had been forced to delay upgrades to Britain’s railway — including the electrification of intercity lines — because of late work and spiralling costs at the hands of Network Rail.
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Sir Peter said: “We are a tax and fare-payer funded organisation. Because of that, the board and executive keeps both base and performance-related pay under constant review and tight control, whilst competing in a global market for staff.
“Good people are crucial to delivering the best train service possible every day, and also the £50 billion railway upgrade plan to improve the railways of Britain, which create economic growth, jobs and housing.”
High Speed 2 also faced criticism over high spending yesterday, including £1.76 million of unauthorised redundancy payments.
HS2’s own annual report showed that it paid almost £212,500 in three months to an interim chief executive.
However, most criticism centred on the company’s redundancy scheme. It was revealed that HS2 ignored orders from the Department for Transport that the scheme should be limited to statutory pay, equivalent to a week for each year worked.
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In a statement the National Audit Office said it had paid £2.76 million in redundancy, including £1.76 million in unauthorised payments. Sir David Higgins, the HS2 chairman, who is paid £240,000 for a three-day week, accepted that the company had made “a serious error”.
• The number of people killed at level crossings increased last year, with some sites still relying on train drivers to sound a horn to warn of impending danger, according to the rail watchdog. The Office of Rail and Road said “overall harm” on Britain’s level crossings was on the rise despite 1,000 crossings having closed in the past seven years. Six fatal accidents were recorded in 2016-17, up from four a year earlier.