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The number of Transport for London staff earning more than £100,000 has soared by 50 per cent in a year.
TfL's annual accounts, published today as delays hit the Metropolitan line and after another weekend of Tube closures, showed the number of six-figure earners had rocketed from 251 to 379.
TfL says the soaring executive pay bill is a result of its takeover of failed maintenance firm Tube Lines and a 35 per cent jump in £100,000-plus salaries at Crossrail, where departing chief executive Rob Holden has earned about £1.7 million in two years.
But the payments cover a year when passengers spent almost three working days stuck on delayed Tubes and in which performance on eight of the 11 lines got worse.
Of the 379 staff on six-figure salaries, 68 worked for Tube Lines - 37 have since quit - and 31 for Crossrail. A further 84 staff saw their salaries top £100,000 as a result of "golden goodbyes", with one boss, Crossrail implementation director David Bennett, receiving £215,000 compensation for losing his job.
Within "core" TfL, the part that runs the Tube, buses and congestion charge, the number of six-figure earners in 2010/11 increased by two to 196.
TfL today pointed to a series of achievements to justify its executive pay, including the highest-ever number of passengers on buses and the Tube (2,289 million and 1,107 million journeys respectively), the opening of the East London line extension and the launch of the Mayor's "Boris bikes".
In addition, the western extension of the congestion charge has been axed, a C-charge "auto pay" system has been launched to prevent drivers being fined and the first air-conditioned Tubes have been introduced on the Metropolitan line, with the Circle, District and Hammersmith and City to follow.
TfL said it had already identified £4.6 billion of £7.6 billion of savings required by 2017/18, and plans to axe a quarter of its directors, with
13 due to leave.
Mr Hendy and seven TfL directors all took a pay freeze for the second year and declined their bonuses, saving the organisation £500,000. While Crossrail is a wholly owned subsidiary of TfL, the Mayor does not have direct control of its pay rates.
Mr Holden, who departs Crossrail in a fortnight, picked up £857,134 in the last financial year - a £570,502 salary and £285,000 bonus. This is almost six times Boris Johnson's £143,911 mayoral salary and two-and-a-half times the £332,276 earnings of TfL commissioner Peter Hendy.
Mr Holden earned £554,495 in his first year at Crossrail and will also collect another six-figure bonus, paid in arrears for 2010/11, before he departs in a fortnight - taking his total earnings since he joined in April 2009 to about £1.7 million.
He is credited with saving £1 billion from the cost of constructing Crossrail and securing Government backing for the £14.8 billion project. However, it will not be completed until late 2018, a year later than planned.
Crossrail today announced that its new chief executive, Andrew Wolstenholme, will earn a £380,000 basic salary when he starts in September. Mr Wolstenholme can earn bonuses worth up to 60 per cent of his salary.
A Crossrail spokesman said: "Crossrail is acutely aware that it must deliver value for money and fully recognises in times of severe public spending constraint that remuneration arrangements for all employees must be regularly reviewed to ensure that they remain appropriate."
Reader views (35)
Without fail you always get some loud mouth from the RMT spitting bile about what a good job they do.... well I for one can't wait till the Olympics are over and LUL replace all their drivers with automated trains, never again will London be held to ransom if the trains run on automatic. Then you RMT lot can go find some other mug to hold up!! Grr!!
- Davey Jones, London, 30/06/2011 13:44
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Now we know where that 50 percent increase in fares by Boris over the last two years went. To his Eton buddies back pocket and to keep his new mistress in comfort.
Disgusting ,steal from the poor to pay the wealthy.Boris must go,he is a disgrace to London.
- dave, london, 28/06/2011 07:33
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Do you wonder why Bob Crow hasn't been thundering about this for years?
I don't. He's kept quiet, lest someone points out how much RMT officials pay themselves!
- Nigel, London, 27/06/2011 16:47
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WHAT ARE YOU ON MATE!!
THE RMT HAS BEEN ON ABOUT THIS FOR YEARS!!!
FRONT LINE STAFF GET SHAFTED AND THE INCOMPETENT MANAGERS TREAT STAFF LIKE DIRT !!!
ALL OF YOU OUT THERE TRY TO PUT BRAIN INTO GEAR THE NEXT TIME YOU SLAG OFF THE RMT FOR GOING ON STRIKE TO TRY AND GET A BETTER SERVICE FOR YOU.HOPE YOU WILL ALL BE HAPPPY WHEN EVERY MANUAL TYPE JOB IS MIN WAGE !!
WAKEY WAKEY UNION BASHERS!
- dave, london england., 28/06/2011 02:27
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I'm disappointed. Not one of you has blamed Bob Crowe, Gordon Brown or mass immigration for this situation. Is the heat sapping peoples desire for bigotry?
- Barry, Welwyn England, 27/06/2011 14:17
Barry ,
You've restored my faith in human nature! "mass immigration" is blamed for just about everything and enything that is wrong with this country by some people.
I reckon if Andy Murry doesn't win Wimbledon it'll be because of "Mass Immigration" .......LOL
- Bob, London, 27/06/2011 22:46
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Here's some news for TFL. We have no blo*dy choice but to use the tube and buses. This fact does not justify these absurd pay awards. DISGUSTING!
- LondonKen, London, 27/06/2011 19:02
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Some might be interested to note that those who are employed by Tube Lines last had a pay increase THREE years ago.....and won't get one until next year (so that's FOUR years!) That makes it very hard for people with dependents etc.....
Also one had to wonder whether the 35 per cent jump in £100,000-plus salaries at Crossrail is as a result of the Bechtel staff that have moved from Tube Lines to CrossRail....not difficult to find the answer to that me thinks!
- bill, ealing, 27/06/2011 18:43
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It makes the £21,000 I was paid by them till my retirement in 2006 look a bit sick
- Gerry, Chatham, Kent UK, 27/06/2011 18:36
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- steve, grays, 27/06/2011 16:08
Was that left as in now work elsewhere, Sacked or did you get your final salary pension on taking early retirement with a lump sum for 33 years, probably in excess of £ 100000 plus a nice £ 21 / 22 K per year pension ?
Nice to slag the hand that so generously feeds you.
- John Hardon, Watford Herts, 27/06/2011 18:03
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corin. sure free company cars for all managers. even the white underground livery transit vans are taken home evrynight by certain staff. not forgetting pensions. bonuses. hotel get togethers. the list is endless i see it all in 33 years from day 1 until my last day. good riddance to it all. just feel sorry for the taxpayer being robbed everyday.
- steve, grays, 27/06/2011 17:41
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I suppose this is just another example of overpaid public servants cashing in at the expense of private taxpayers. Many even managed to rip us off by buying up public assets for peanuts, Russian style. They add insult to injury by claiming golden handshakes of vast unrelated sums when they get the boot. Let these people all be named.
- Michael, Kensington, UK, 27/06/2011 17:32
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Well we can see why strikes don't bother them. They can come into town by limo. perhaps that's a free perk too.
- corin, London, 27/06/2011 17:14
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Anybody else wonder just why it is that the Congestion Charge goes to employ so many in Glasgow of all places?
Doesn't sound to me as if Boris, or his predecessor had any real interest in providing jobs for Londoners.
I am fully aware that the scheme is run (at a huge profit) by a private business for TFL, however, surely it could have been a condition of contract that jobs, or administration, had to be in London.
- Norman Speight, London UK, 27/06/2011 17:03
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Do you wonder why Bob Crow hasn't been thundering about this for years?
I don't. He's kept quiet, lest someone points out how much RMT officials pay themselves!
- Nigel, London, 27/06/2011 16:47
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This huge fare rises over recent years. Next time the ticket machine displays some absurd price to travel just a few miles, think "well at least I'm helping Mr. Executive to afford a 2nd porsche".
TfL needs to cut staff numbers across the board, including at the bloated, insanely expensive executive level.
- John, London, 27/06/2011 16:44
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The Transport for London department need a big reforms. Like Eric Pickles say anyone earns more the prime Minister should be name and shame.
- Andy, London, 27/06/2011 16:32
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Rip off TFL, with there scandalous Oyster cards routinely overcharging, sky rocketing fares, useless new cycle lanes and dangerous innercity motorways. How do they justify these inflated wages?
- Toby, London, 27/06/2011 16:24
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And TFL claim they have no money to improve the awful service they provide, I now know where our money goes. Mind you for years under Brown & Blair people we paid vast sums for failure (Fred the shred at RBS etc)
- mike, London and once Gt.Britain, 27/06/2011 16:09
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brown hendy all on the gravy train. brown left lul went to baa then came back to lul. hendy ex busman now millionaire. its these so called managers that should be held accountable. and not forget last november tfl gave in excess of £250.000 in severance payments to various gsms and dsms with years to work before they reach retirement age to reduce numbers. but now they are taking more managers on with a salary inexcess of £50k. yet frontline staff get shafted with there pittance. get rid of all the so called managers graduates etc. next year after the 2012 games new rosters show that most stations will be unmanned all day and all night long, with security guards looking after them. i left in january after 33years service because i could see the light coming.a future with tfl is limited to another year after that staff will be made redundant. time for a beer.
- steve, grays, 27/06/2011 16:08
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"as some have already pointed out, no doubt all these people are on final salary pensions schemes at our expense too. nice work if you can get it. Boris get a grip and start the cuts!- keithy boy, london"
Two words: turkeys, Christmas
How can BoJo the clown get a grip if he's up to his ears in this scam?
- John Smith, London, EUSSR, 27/06/2011 15:49
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379 too many?
- Nigel, London, 27/06/2011 15:43
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How much do Evening Standard execs get for producing this daily drivel...?
- Ian, Chesham, UK, 27/06/2011 15:37
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Its OK folks .....Remember we are all in this together .....Dave said so ...........we feel your pain said Dave ..........as he and his fellow multi millionaires p*ssed themselves laughing
- morris holms, Tobermoray, 27/06/2011 14:43
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Another ES nothing story that merges irrelevant facts slanted against LUL, is there nothing else to report in ES land, Any one knows that TFL encompasses all of the individual organizations that allegedly serve London's Transport needs, LUL being one of them, the Metropolitan Line being an even smaller part, and yes there was delays this morning and upgrade work on LUL over the weekend attempting to make the place better for all, I notice that the uninformed reporter failed to notice the choppy water on the Thames which made the boats late, The delays to at least 3 bus routes due to accidents, problems near Victoria which affected the buses, engineering works on London overground, what has the story line got to do with operational things on LUL who as I said earlier are a very small part of TFL, is this ES bias appearing again.
- John Hardon, Watford Herts, 27/06/2011 14:22
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This is the rubbish Bob Crow has to talk to,no wonder he gets the hump,having to ask greedy people like these to stop cutting necessary jobs while these overpaid leaches get all the cream.
- bazza, London, 27/06/2011 14:17
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I'm disappointed. Not one of you has blamed Bob Crowe, Gordon Brown or mass immigration for this situation. Is the heat sapping peoples desire for bigotry?
- Barry, Welwyn England, 27/06/2011 14:17
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Same old friends of friends getting the jobs and rewards, moving on, and returning the favours at higher and higher cost to passengers and taxpayers.
When referring to other countries, our leaders describe it as corruption, here, it is called anything but.
- Concerned Observer, Harrow, 27/06/2011 14:15
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Since, as this points out, the people in Tube Lines and Crossrail who have had to be paid off weren't actually part of TfL, the truth is actually contained in this sentence:
"Within "core" TfL, the part that runs the Tube, buses and congestion charge, the number of six-figure earners in 2010/11 increased by two to 196."
I would guess INCREASED BY TWO! (temporarily, before a bunch of additional directors are let go), wasn't exactly the headline the Standard was looking for. Hence the above.
Still, at least all the words in the headline are spelt correctly this time...
- The Death Starr, North London, 27/06/2011 13:59
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And the fare rises are for what ? investment ? as we are told year after year.
- Grim Reaper, Hell, 27/06/2011 13:57
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It would be very interesting to know, what there jobs entail because I reckon like years ago at a certain place to do with Transport near Paddington station. The majority of staff walked about with bits of paper in there hands from one place to another. good for keeping slim but thats all . I bet it hasn't changed much to this day .
- Hamilton Straker, Ealing West London, 27/06/2011 13:44
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what do all of these people actually do? TFL point out changes to the way the congestion charge is administered and new air conditioned trains. well i am sorry but the admin. on the congestion charge is outsourced to the private sector, and how many staff does it actually take to tell a factory to install air conditioning on some new trains? as some have already pointed out, no doubt all these people are on final salary pensions schemes at our expense too. nice work if you can get it. Boris get a grip and start the cuts! the taxpayer has had enough.
- keithy boy, london, 27/06/2011 13:43
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So why didn't your report ask, "how many TFL are presently earning over £100,000?" One interpretation of the figures set out in this article is that TFL has made a saving by getting rid of overpaid executives hired when Labour was in power.
- BJ, East London, 27/06/2011 13:39
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A gravey train, the only one that always runs ontime and never breaksdown.
- Hansel, London, 27/06/2011 13:13
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Gravy Train not Tube Train then.
There is a dilemma on Private Vs Public ownership of organisations providing public services.
In favour of private, there are shareholders who can have some control over inflated and unjustifiable salaries, on the downside those same shareholders will require maximum profit which will minimize investment in improvements and upgrades.
In favour of Public, profits can be invested in improvements and upgrades etc, on the downside there is little or zero control over inflated and unjustifiable salaries which reduces the funds available for improvements and upgrades.
.
Hmmmmmmmm . . . . .
.
.
- Rog, Enfield, 27/06/2011 13:12
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You left out Cllr Moylan !!!He is well over £100k
- The Man from Chiswick, London, 27/06/2011 13:12
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And no doubt will be trousering an indexed linked pension of £50 ,000 plus at the age of 60 .
Thats been the problem in the public sector
Pensions must be capped at £30 ,000 which in real world would cost you £1,000 ,000 and you better hope the pot does not fall when stock markets crash .
- remus, london, 27/06/2011 12:40
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