Rail workers face pay freeze as pandemic bill hits £10bn
Rail minister Chris Heaton-Harris has written to bosses warning that there is no budget to increase wages for 62,000 workers
30 January 2021 • 9:30pm
Rail workers must endure a pay freeze for up to two years, the Government has said, with taxpayers on track for a bill of more than £10bn to keep the trains running until spring.
The rail minister Chris Heaton-Harris has written to bosses warning that there is “no budget” to increase wages for 62,000 workers, according to industry sources, setting himself on a collision course with rail unions.
In a one-page letter he said that the subsidies currently being pumped into the industry are not sustainable. Official estimates say the taxpayer bailout of the railways will exceed £10bn in the current financial year.