Bonuses double salaries of rail bosses.

I'm sat on my delayed train home, having waited on the platform at London Bridge at a temperature of -2 degrees, and this was the headline that greeted me and my fellow commuters on this evenings 'Evening Standard'.

Commuters help subsidise Network Rail by £4 billion a year through taxes, along with everyone else who pays their taxes and may never even use a train. It's claimed (by a Network Rail spokesman) that the bonuses are a result of "delivering substantial savings to the taxpayer". Well I don't know about anyone else, but I have seen my taxes reduce as a result of substantial savings. If there have been substantial savings, then surely they won't need another £4 billion next year?

I would suggest that anyone who earns in excess of £500k a year, subsidised by the taxpayer, should be expected to deliver "substantial savings" as part of their basic job description, and not as part of a bonus scheme.

I would suggest that rather than award themselves £2.8 million over the next five years, they keep a hold of it. If they can afford a 500% bonus, then they can afford to have their subsidy slashed, and then we can all share in a little tax bonus.