More than 3,000 Tube drivers earn £70,000 each

Londoners have today been cursing the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) trade union for the misery that its 24-hour walkout has inflicted across the capital. The strike is about a dispute with Network Rail and Transport for London (TfL) over pay, jobs and working conditions, with the RMT asking for a pay rise of seven per cent, which is lower than inflation but higher than that offered by employers.

It all comes down to the age-old question about how much staff should be paid for a day’s work. So it was with serendipitous timing therefore that Mr S received a Freedom of Information reply from TfL today about how much London Underground train operators or instructor operators are currently receiving in compensation. And it transpires that Tube staff are being paid up to £100k a year in salary, pension contributions, allowances and perks including season ticket reimbursements; though not any time off in lieu.

No less than 32 London Underground train operators or instructors are listed as being in the £80,000 to £99,999 category of total remuneration, including three who get between £90,000 to £99,000: more than the annual salary of some of the Labour MPs sponsored by the RMT in parliament. A whopping 3,056 train operators or instructors receive between £70,000 to £79,999. A further 158 qualify for the category of £60,000 to £69,999; higher than the £58,543 yearly salary of a Greater London Assembly Member.

These figures are taken from TfL’s payroll records until the end of April 2022: presumably they will be even higher come next year. Mind the gap, indeed.