'Scandal' of £165million Network Rail bonuses

‘Delivering delays and cancellations’

- By Matthew Davis

NETWORK Rail staff have pocketed £165million in bonus payments in three years — despite overseeing a service plagued by delays, cancellations and accidents.

The payouts — described by one campaigner as “scandalous” — have been made to employees at the quango which looks after infrastructure such as tracks, bridges, tunnels, signals, level crossings and stations.

Despite almost a third of rail services running late, 4% of trains being cancelled and Network Rail fined for deaths of its staff, most employees took home an average bonus of £2,000 last year.

Its watchdog, the Office of Rail and Road, also criticised it last year for being slow to allow train operators to grow their services and ordered it to take measures to improve services to passengers in two regions.

Figures from Network Rail showed it paid staff £78.4million in bonus payments last year, up from £46.5million the year before and £39.6million two years ago.

Last year payments were made to 38,436 employees — 90% of its staff.