Network Rail boss is silent over this year's bonus

NETWORK Rail boss Iain Coucher has refused to say whether he will accept a bonus this year.

The chief executive received bonuses of more than £500,000 last year, taking his salary package to £1.2million, despite NR being fined a record £14million for engineering overruns at Christmas and New Year in 2007/08. Other NR directors also received six-figure bonuses having met one year and three-year performance targets.

At a media briefing he was asked whether he would take a bonus, which would be announced next month. He replied: "I must politely decline to say whether I will."

Mr Coucher said he would never take a bonus for failing to achieve targets and would only take one if the company had been successful.

He said the company had a good record over the last five years, although it would be impossible to please everybody and that bonuses were a matter for the NR remuneration body.

There is a growing row over the issue of NR bonuses. The Evening Standard reported last month that Mr Coucher and his co-directors could be in line for more six-figure bonus payments. A leaked NR document also paved the way for more bonuses next year.

Theresa Villiers, shadow transport secretary, said that if the Conservatives won the next election they would increase the powers of the Office of Rail Regulation to enable it to block bonuses to senior executives in the event of "serious persistent failure" such as the New Year delays.