Bonuses bonanza for rail bosses despite delays

Top bosses at Network Rail (NR) are to receive huge bonuses despite the company being warned over delays on the London to Scotland West Coast line.

NR chief executive Iain Coucher announced earlier that he would forego his annual bonus but still gets £150,000 as part of a three-year rolling incentive plan bonus.

NR group infrastructure director Peter Henderson will be getting a £217,000 annual bonus plus £112,000 as part of the incentive plan, while former financial director Ron Henderson receives an annual bonus of £207,000 plus £112,000 under the three-year plan.

Last month the Office of Rail Regulation warned NR over its stewardship of the West Coast main line, which has been plagued by delays even though a £9 billion upgrade project was completed last December.

The bonuses are based on the annual performance of NR and are decided by the company's remuneration committee.

Last month the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) wrote to the remuneration committee pointing out the company's shortcomings. These included an "unsatisfactory" performance on the West Coast line.

The ORR also said NR had presided over an increase in delays caused by signalling problems and was perceived by train and freight companies as being "bureaucratic and unresponsive".

The ORR had given NR until the middle of this month to come up with a plan to improve things on the West Coast line. A £50 million package of improvements has now been approved.

All 35,000 NR staff will be getting bonus money, with the smallest amount being £740.

The bonuses were announced as NR published its annual report today, which included a statement from Sir Ian McAllister, who is standing down as NR chairman this summer.

Sir Ian said NR could look back at its recent record "with pride".