Network Rail bosses rack up huge weekly fee on flights as they shun trains

NETWORK Rail staff spent £10,000 a week on flight tickets last year — including many trips within the UK.

The company let the plane take the strain almost 20 times a week for journeys in Britain.

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In contrast, rail passengers endure a service dogged by delays and strikes, with some of the highest fares in Europe.

Thousands of rail union members were on strike again yesterday, heaping more misery on punters.

Bosses at Network Rail, responsible for the upkeep of railway lines and stations, admitted they took flights rather than trains because on occasion the plane tickets worked out cheaper.

It comes despite railway bosses trying to promote the railways as the greenest way to travel.

A Freedom of Information request found staff last year bought 985 air tickets for domestic journeys and another 1,622 for international trips.

One director, £330,000-a-year Michelle Handforth, cost the company almost £8,000 for 35 internal flight tickets.

Figures from Network Rail show that 72 of the internal flights were for the Birmingham-Glasgow route — which has a direct rail connection and is less than 300 miles.

Mike Childs, of environmental group Friends of the Earth, pointed out trains were far greener than planes.

He said:“It’s a sorry indictment of the state of rail travel in the UK when industry bosses are choosing to fly.”

Network Rail said: “Our travel policy is to book the cheapest available, which is why the vast majority of travel is by rail or by video conference.”