Govia Thameslink Railway boss refuses to defend CEO’s £2m pay

A rail boss today refused to defend the growing pay and bonus package of one of her colleagues as she apologised for chaos in her company’s services.

Asked whether she thought it acceptable that Go Ahead CEO David Brown’s pay deal had risen to £2.16 million last year from £1.96 million the year before, Dyan Crowther, chief operating officer of Govia Thameslink Railway, said: “That’s a matter for our board. What my focus is on is improving the service for our customers on a day-to-day basis.”

Go Ahead operates three franchises through GTR, including Southern services running into London that have been hit by hundreds of cancellations.

Pressed on the issue Ms Crowther said: “What my customers want me to do and what I’m employed to do is to improve the service and get things back to an acceptable level.” She told BBC radio she was “very, very sorry” for recent disruption and was “acutely aware” of customers’ experiences.

It comes amid a heated row with unions over driver-only operated trains and changing the role of conductors. Ms Crowther said cancellations were due to staff shortages and drivers unwilling to work overtime.

RMT union general secretary Mick Cash said trying to blame “hard-working, frontline staff, who take the full force of passenger anger for cancellations and delays, is cowardly and despicable behaviour by this failing, rip-off GTR outfit.”