Network
Rail, the railways infrastructure company, has fallen into the red, but will
pay bonuses to all its staff nonetheless.
It
made an operating loss of £758m in the year to 31 March, against an operating
profit of £80m. But employees will receive a bonus on their salary, which is
worth around £100,000 at chief executive level.
The
company said there was a 7 per cent reduction in train delays, but admitted
that one in five still do not run on time. Train performance improved by only 7
per cent during the year, against a target of 10 per cent.
Network
Rail chairman Ian McAllister said the financial bonuses were deserved because
several targets have been reached.
Executive
directors of the company are to receive bonuses of 24 per cent of their basic
salary, despite failing to meet the performance target on train punctuality.
That
means chief executive John Armitt will receive £112,320, while deputy chief
executive Iain Coucher will get £99,840.
Other
employees at the company will receive a bonus of about £600.
