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The number of Transport for London managers earning more than £100,000 rose by a third in Boris Johnson's first year as Mayor, new figures out next week will show.
The Standard has learned that 163 TfL officials were paid six-figure salaries in 2008/9 - 40 more than the previous year.
The figure will be contained in the organisation's annual report, to be published on Tuesday.
When staff at Metronet and Crossrail - also now part of TfL - are included, the number of six-figure-earners rises to 231, almost double what it was two years ago.
TfL's top earner last year - Commissioner Peter Hendy - collected a base salary and bonus of £494,884, or £9,500 a week.
This is more than twice as much as the then Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Sir Ian Blair, and almost four times as much as the Mayor. Mr Hendy's bonus alone was £146,440, more than the Mayor's entire salary.
Freedom of Information requests by the Evening Standard established that 15 TfL managers, including the director of marketing, earn more than the Prime Minister.
Of the 46 most highly paid officials, only 16 are directly involved in operating services.
The number of TfL staff earning over £50,000 has also risen from 1,954 to 2,565 in a year. When Metronet and Crossrail are included, the number of £50,000 earners goes up to 4,204, a seventh of the workforce.
The new figures are likely to prove highly embarrassing as TfL fights a damaging pay dispute with Tube drivers, which led to the strike last week.
Even TfL's 2007/8 total of big earners was condemned as "excessive". That year the Treasury, responsible for the entire UK economy, employed only 15 staff on salaries of £100,000 or above.
TfL today blamed an above-inflation pay deal agreed by the previous Mayor, Ken Livingstone, for the dramatic rises and said that the salaries of Mr Hendy and other top managers had been frozen in the current financial year.
Their bonus pot has also been reduced. Several hundred TfL staff are affected by the freeze.
Mr Johnson said: "In these tough economic times, it is right to freeze the salaries of TfL's management and reduce bonus levels."
But he defended the rises of previous years, saying: "It is also right that TfL has the calibre of people needed to deliver a huge work programme, including upgrading the Tube and building Crossrail."
TfL said that the number of six-figure earners represented only 0.8 per cent of its 28,000 workforce and insisted that top salaries at the organisation had to compete with those paid at private-sector transport companies such as Stagecoach and First Group.
Mr Hendy said: "We continue to seek efficiencies across the organisation. It is vital we have an experienced and capable management team to deliver that."
TfL has said it is committed to finding £2.4billion of savings over the next nine years.
The target has caused clashes with the workforce, with Tube unions claiming that up to 3,000 jobs could be axed and demanding a guarantee of no compulsory redundancies.
Reader views (16)
If the Gordon Brown did something useful, he could earn more as well. I am surprised he gets as much as he does.
- Mr Pastry, Brisbane
Its a disgrace but typical,I work on the tube via an an employment Agency as an electrician.My pay for the same contractors has gone down from £160 per shift in 2004 to £130 now for the same work.Yet in the media we are told that the Contractors need more money,what for ? I ask.By the same token how can this situation exist and none of these 6 figure boys have clawed back money from the contractors ? Someones at it and it aint me
- Andy, London
It's not so much the salaries themselves - I don't begrudge someone in charge of running a tube line and responsible for hundreds of staff earning 150K - but the sheer number of people - 231 - earning this amount. It's simply staggering. Who are these 231 managers and what are they doing?
- Phil, Enfield
Now we know why the tube workers are out on strike. Boris Johnson looking after the rich again. Has he paid back any of the expenses he cliamed when he was a part time MP and getting a salary as Editor of the Spectator as well.
- Mick, London, England
It just demonstrates that the senior management of LUL & TFL are as honest about money as Members of Parliament.
It's good to see that Mr Hendy's bonus is the equivalent of 4 train operators' salaries.
Those Employment Tribunal figures are absolute shockers -TFL is a public body remember, supposedly accountable to taxpayers - how can they retain managers who cost them this much money?
I'll tell you how - they promote them and then they do it on a bigger scale.It is a jobs for the boys mentality.
Every year for the last 15 years in internal surveys, the majority of staff state that they do not believe that the way people are selected for jobs is fair. This leads to resentment, fueled by being victimized and then it leads to.....strikes.
The use of the 'pay a rate to attract the best' mentality should equally apply to accountability - don't perform and you'll be sacked.
But it's the Tube and TFL; unaccountable and unelected
- Andrea, Aylesbury
"We continue to seek efficiencies across the organisation. It is vital we have an experienced and capable management team to deliver that."
This from the organisation that was paralysed under several inches - yes inches not metres or even feet! - of snow earlier this year.
The entire bus service was suspended for the first time ever, because TFL failed to ensure that acces roads to bus depots were cleared.
"...capable management team..."? Somebody at TFL should consult a dictionary!
- John C, Leatherhead, UK
OINK OINK, Pass the trough, burp,
- Steve M, LONDON
Mr Gilligan, surely you mean that they are paid more. From the state of the Underground I doubt very much that they earn more.
- Seabee, London, UK
Get it sorted out Boris, or the voters will have you out next time.
This is the sort of thing that really pisses people off about the public sector.
Are you sure you are really a conservative, you seem more Labour every time we read about what you are not doing.
- P Staker, London
That would explain the high cost of travel for a third world service.Its time the working and middle class over threw these rich scumbags that are raping the wealth that we work so hard to create.There is no difference between the greedy rich here in the UK and those in Africa,except the rich here believe they have a right to the high life.
- Dave, london
I would suggest that anyone taking on a job "worth" more than (say) £120,000 should lose his or her security of employment. Every year, the employer should be free to re-advertise ("market-test") the job, and to select the best candidate. That would be the man already in the job, provided he was any good at it and provided he wasn't demanding too much. I'm sure this would result in a better class of manager and a considerable reduction to the wages bill!
By the way, it's Labour that has presided over the rampant spread of over-paid managers and consultants throughout our public services. It may yet be Cameron's Tories that deal with this waste of taxpayers' money.
- Nigel, London
If London Transport provided a good service then such high salaries would be understandable. The reality is that the public have to put up with a shoddy service that is expensive and unreliable.
- Simon Ellis, London
What a shame it is that Boris seems to be no better than his appalling predecessor. Unless Boris gets his act together and starts to behave like a Conservative then he won't get re-elected.
- Matt, London, UK
I'll do that job better at half the salary, no problem!
Complete waste, paying people those sort of salaries, I would like to see the benifit they bring, bet its hard to measure.
Sack 50% of them and I suspect no one would notice any drop in service.
- George, Hempstead - Kent
"TfL today blamed an above-inflation pay deal agreed by the previous Mayor, Ken Livingstone, for the dramatic rises"
Thank God we got rid of Ken, otherwise it would be even worse. Start cutting the waste in London's public sector bureaucracies, Boris, or we'll get rid of you too.
- Danny, NW5
Absolutley shocking,
Its now becoming clear whats really going,TFL is a gravy train for incompetent managers.It would also appear that the recent tube strike is the manifestation of greedy tube bosses trying to protect their ovepaid positions at the expense of ordinary frontline worker's pay and conditions.This is not the only scandal,evidence of greedy tube bosses operating a regime of bullying in the workplace can be seen by these figures on Employment tribunal claims:
August 2004 to March 2006: £2,604,180.36
April 2006 to March 2007: £1,795,156.96
April 2007 to March 2008: £1,704,801.72 (may not include a six-figure settlement reached prior to County Court hearing).
April 2008 to 31 Dec 2008: In excess of: £830,094 (final figure: April 2008 to March 2009 awaited).
The whole operations of London Underground and TFL needs to be scrutinised,there have also been rumours of corruption around contracts for many years.
Andrew,as a respected and feared investigative journalist Londoners would want you to take this on.
- James Connolly, London ,England
