Search: Rail bosses bonus row
Network Rail (NR) bosses who have received huge bonuses this year were greeted by the "Fat Controller" as they arrived at their company's annual meeting in Bristol.
Played by an actor, the Fat Controller appeared under a banner reading "Iain Coucher, the £6 million man".
The sum referred to the amount that Mr Coucher, the NR chief executive, has been paid in wages and bonuses over the past seven years, according to rail union TSSA, which arranged the demonstration.
TSSA, and others, have already expressed their anger at this year's bonuses, which saw some top NR directors receiving in excess of £300,000.
Mr Coucher decided to forgo his annual bonus, but still qualified for £150,000 as part of a three-year rolling incentive plan bonus.
TSSA general secretary Gerry Doherty said before the annual meeting: "The whole bonus system has been brought into disrepute."
Mr Doherty is one of more than 100 NR "members" who effectively act as shareholders, in that NR bosses are answerable to them.
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Anger about the bonuses has been fuelled by the fact that the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) had warned NR about its poor performance on the West Coast Main Line, where delays have persisted this year, despite the completion, last December, of a £9 billion upgrade.
A Network Rail spokesman said: "Network Rail only rewards its staff and directors if the company actually improves the railway and makes things better for passengers over the year.
"There is absolutely no room for rewarding inadequacy or failure".
