Railtrack boss gives up bonus

Steve Marshall waives his bonus

Steve Marshall, chief executive of Railtrack, has given up a bonus and share options, together worth almost £700,000.

In a statement the new chairman John Robinson said Mr Marshall would be cancelling his existing share option entitlements with immediate effect.

The Financial Times reported that Mr Marshall, who became chief executive in November, is hoping to assuage passenger and government anger over the company's failure to improve the rail network.

Mr Marshall's bonus was worth up to £225,000 - half his annual salary - while his share options were worth about £450,000.

Keeps incentive bonus

However, Mr Marshall will retain a special performance bonus incentive as disclosed in Railtrack's latest annual report and accounts.

This is worth up to one year's salary and is subject to the achievement of "stringent" performance criteria.

Mr Robinson's statement follows public anger over the disclosure that Mr Marshall had been granted a 12.5% pay rise.

It also follows the storm of criticism over former chief executive Gerald Corbett's £860,000 post-tax pay-off.

Pay review

Mr Robinson also announced last week that he has commissioned an early review of the compensation arrangements for executive directors and other senior executives across the group.

Railtrack came under fresh fire last week after it was revealed that six of its directors, including Mr Marshall, were awarded nearly £2m in share options.

The options were designed to motivate the executives, a spokeswoman for the rail network operator Railtrack said at the time.