Olympic Games bonuses revealed for London transport bosses

TfL Commissioner Sir Peter Hendy received performance award of £168,640 for 2011/12

TfL Commissioner Sir Peter Hendy received performance award of £168,640 for 2011/12 (Getty Images)

Transport chiefs in London have received big bonuses following the successful transport performance during the 2012 Olympic Games.

Transport for London (TfL) also announced that as many as 328 of its staff earned more than £100,000 in 2012/13 although this was a reduction on the figure of 365 for 2011/12.

Performance awards for top staff for 2010/11 and 2011/12 had been deferred, with payment contingent on the successful delivery of transport for the 2012 Games as well as the meeting of other targets.

TfL's annual report today showed London's Transport Commissioner, Sir Peter Hendy, received a performance award of £168,640 for 2011/12 as well as an award of £150,366 for 2010/11.

Sir Peter was eligible for to receive an award of up to 50 per cent of his base salary.

London Underground managing director Mike Brown got £88,936 for 2011/12 and £75,010 for 2010/11.

He was one of TfL's chief officers who got bonuses for the two years. These officers were all eligible to receive awards of up to 30 per cent of base salary.

TfL said the base pay of Sir Peter and the chief officers had been frozen for a fourth consecutive year.

Former Paralympic gold medallist Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, who is chairman of TfL's remuneration committee, said: "London's transport network had a record-breaking year with hugely improved reliability and tremendous support for a successful London 2012 Games under the gaze of the world. The excellent management team and staff of TfL have really delivered.

"Based on this impressive level of performance and delivery, the remuneration committee decided it was right that the deferred performance awards for the two years before the Games should be paid in full to the Commissioner and chief officers."

TfL said: "The total remuneration of the Commissioner and chief officers remains at the lower end of that paid for similar jobs elsewhere in the transport and related industries where TfL competes with the private sector for high-quality staff.

TfL said the total number of its staff who received total remuneration of more than £100,000 included those paid above this amount due to severance payments.

It added that the number of staff working for the £14.8 billion cross-London Crossrail scheme who were on more than £100,000 remained at 30.

TfL said passenger numbers and service reliability were at record levels on the Tube, London Overground and the Docklands Light Railway.

In 2012/13, the Tube and bus networks operated more than 97 per cent of scheduled services, with Tube delays down 20 per cent on 2011/12.

Tube customer satisfaction was at an all-time high of 84 per cent during the London 2012 Games and at 83 per cent for 2012/13 overall, while bus passenger satisfaction was at an all-time high of 82 per cent.

London Mayor Boris Johnson said : "London's transport system is carrying more people, more reliably, safely and efficiently than at any point in history. We are also delivering impressively on one of the biggest investment programmes being undertaken anywhere on the planet.

London Assembly Green Party member Jenny Jones said: "Peter Hendy and his team did a fantastic job with the Olympics. But the Mayor and the Assembly have been clear that huge pay gaps are bad for society. The Mayor should be trying to reduce the gulf between senior managers and the staff who run our buses, trains and roads.

"Research has shown that more equal societies are generally happier and healthier with less violent crime. We can't afford not to reduce the pay gap in this divided city."

PA