Network Rail boss Mark Carne has today announced that he will not accept a bonus. Here's what The Northern Echo said in its editorial comment this morning...

 

NETWORK Rail chief executive Mark Carne has been as clear as mud about whether he will be accepting a bonus following the Christmas chaos which descended on Britain during his watch.

Already earning an annual salary of £675,000, Mr Carne could yet pocket a maximum of £34,000 extra if an internal committee decides he is entitled to his bonus.

But that would surely be a case of rewarding spectacular failure after the closure of King’s Cross at the weekend due to engineering works over-running.

And, in our view, that would be completely unacceptable.

Mr Carne has attempted to get his mitigation in first – by pointing out that he took urgent action over bonuses when he became chief executive.

It is true that he reduced the biggest possible bonus he could earn – but many will be shocked to learn that the original maximum bonus payable to Network Rail’s boss was a whopping 160 per cent.

Mr Carne cut it to 20 per cent – but he had an awful lot to play with.

While the question of a bonus continues to be hotly debated, Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin has welcomed Mr Carne’s vague assurances that lessons have been learned from the debacle at the weekend.

But he added that those assurances must not just be “warm words” – insisting passengers deserve “real action”.

Indeed, Mr McLoughlin had some warm words of his own – promising to hold Network Rail to that commitment.

It remains to be seen what substance will be applied to those warm words, either by Network Rail or the Government.

But, in the meantime, Mr Carne should be unequivocal in declaring that he will not take a penny above his £675,000 salary.