Rail workers and what they earn: who are the real fat cats?
As rail workers from the RMT union strike over pay and conditions, government ministers have said they are already particularly well paid.
The transport secretary, Grant Shapps, cited an average salary of £44,000 – a figure that includes the train drivers, who are not part of this week’s national strike. However, rail bosses account for eight of 10 of the highest paid people in the public sector, while chief executives of private rail firms take home even more. So who exactly earns what in the railway?
The average RMT member in rail earns about £33,000, according to the union – taken across every role, from in-house cleaners and onboard crew at train operators, to maintenance roles and signallers at Network Rail.
The average signaller earns £44,000, according to Network Rail. The average pay for a maintenance worker is £31,000, and the overall average for Network Rail RMT members is £36,000.
Salaries around train companies vary. One long-distance train operator pays about £23,000 for a station assistant, £25,000 for a customer service host, £32,000 for a conductor, and £38,000 for a train manager.
Another train operator based in the south-east pays between £21,000 and £30,000 to station staff as a baseline. Higher rates are paid to those working in central London and doing antisocial shifts: staff can earn £3,000 to £4,000 more in London weighting and roughly the same again for flexible shifts. Platform and gateline staff are on the lowest salaries, with ticket office staff earning £24,000 to £26,000 and controllers at the terminals earning about £30,000.
Most cleaning staff are now employed by outsourced firms such as Churchill and are paid the minimum wage.
The figure quoted by Shapps is the median figure from the Office for
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