Outgoing Network Rail chief Mark Carne turns down £70,000 bonus over ongoing train timetable saga
The outgoing boss of Network Rail Mark Carne has turned down his annual £74,000 bonus for the year following the company's role in the ongoing timetable disaster that has wreaked havoc across London and the North.
Rail Magazine reported that Carne had written to the Network Rail chairman, Sir Peter Hendy, to say that he would not be taking his annual bonus this year in light of the mass cancellations and delays that are still ongoing.
Network Rail's chief financial officer Jeremy Westlake also wrote to Hendy to state he too would not be collecting his £38,000 bonus.
Hendy confirmed the report on Twitter:
Yes – I can confirm that Mark Carne (CEO) and Jeremy Westlake (CFO) both wrote to me yesterday stating that neither would accept any bonus for the last year. https://t.co/tapb8t0DNx
— Sir Peter Hendy (@SirPeterHendy) June 15, 2018
Carne announced earlier this year he would be stepping down from Network Rail, paving the way for former Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) boss Andrew Haines to take over.
Haines, who has also acted as managing director of South West Trains as well as managing director of the rail division for First Group, will join the company later this year on a salary of £588,000 inclusive of benefits, 27 per cent lower than Carne's £820,000 a year pay packet.
Last week Carne was appointed a CBE in the Queen's birthday honours, causing angry reactions among politicians and the public.
Tim Farron, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, told the BBC that Carne should decline the award if he “had an ounce of political common sense”.
Hendy said that while he acknowledged the timing of the honour was "difficult", he nevertheless thought it was necessary to evaluate the whole of Carne's career, in which he has been praised for increasing passenger safety.