A row has erupted over bonuses handed out to Thameslink officials after the company had its performance targets lowered by the government following multiple failures, it has been revealed.
Filings published by Govia Thameslink Railways, which operates the rail network running through central London and the City, show repeated failures in the first year of a lucrative contract ending in March this year.
According to the filings, Thameslink’s performance targets were downgraded across nearly every category from last year. The targets are set by the government’s department for transport.
Govia is owned partly by Go-Ahead and Keolis, an arm of French state-owned railway operator SNCF. Contract details, including management fees based on performance, were laid out in March last year when it was signed.
With the exception of station cleanliness and graffiti, which remained at the benchmark of 57 per cent, and customer service online information, which increased from 83 per cent to 94 per cent, all other areas were below the benchmark.
The lowering of performance targets, after the majority of benchmarks were missed, means Govia executives will potentially be in line for bumper bonuses if they hit the new lower targets.
It is understood that if the company exceeds the new lower performance targets, executives could be in line for a hefty bonus capped at £31.7m a year.
On Thursday, the issue was raised in Parliament, with Labour’s shadow transport minister Louise Haigh criticising the government’s Mark Harper. “Last year, Govia Thameslink failed on every single performance measure at its stations, but rather than enforcing the standards in the contract and demanding better, he lowered them so that Govia would still potentially receive its bonus and performance fee, at a potential cost of millions to the taxpayer.
“Is that not the perfect symbol of the Conservatives’ broken rail network: failure rewarded, and passengers and taxpayers paying the price?”
Mark Harper responded without referring directly to Thameslink.
It is understood that Labour’s comments about performance targets are based on service quality regime estimates released by the government, for the first time.
The performance targets are set by the Department for Transport, which hit back against claims Govia had missed targets and was being rewarded for failure.
A DfT spokesperson said: “This is a misleading claim – performance across Govia Thameslink has improved over the last year and we continue to hold them to account.
“Performance should be assessed through targets that are achievable and incentivise operators to deliver concrete improvements that benefit passengers.”
A GTR spokesperson told City A.M. “Under our National Rail Contract, the government receives all customer fares and is responsible for industry costs.
“Train operators are paid a fixed management fee per year to deliver the contract, and can earn additional performance-based fee if they can demonstrate they have exceeded delivering the priorities that DfT specify each year.
“Our absolute focus is on providing improved services for our customers, as demonstrated by nine out of ten trains arriving within five minutes of their scheduled time in the year to March 2023.”
This comes amid widespread strikes on the UK rail network, including the Thameslink, throughout January and February. Find out more here.