The number of Transport for London (TfL) staff receiving £100,000 in total remuneration is up 189 per cent from 2022-23.
EMBARGOED: 19:00, Friday 9th January
- The number of Transport for London (TfL) staff receiving £100,000 in total remuneration is up 189 per cent from 2022-23.
- The highest remunerated TfL employee is Andy Lord, Commissioner, who received £639,164 in total remuneration in 2024-25.
- Analysis brings into question whether Londoners are getting value for money regarding the capital’s transport system.
The number of Transport for London (TfL) staff receiving at least £100,000 in total remuneration has surged dramatically, according to new analysis of official accounts by the TaxPayers’ Alliance on the anniversary of the founding of the London Underground.
In just two years, the number of TfL employees in receipt of six-figure total remuneration packages has increased by 189 per cent, from 766 in 2022-23 to at least 2,217 in 2024-25. That explosion comes despite TfL remaining reliant on subsidies from taxpayers and Londoners facing rising fares, unreliable services and ongoing disruption across the network.
The growth in top pay has been especially steep in the last year alone. Between 2023-24 and 2024-25, the number of staff receiving at least £100,000 jumped by 68 per cent, from 1,319 to 2,217.
These figures expose the widening gap between the lived experience of passengers and the rewards enjoyed by senior and managerial staff. Commuters continue to endure unreliable services, overcrowding and repeated fare increases, yet bonuses, pension contributions and compensation payments for senior staff continue to climb.
TfL is already one of the largest public sector employers in the country, and its pay bill is a major driver of its operating costs. While ministers and City Hall continue to talk about the need for efficiency and restraint, this analysis shows that pay inflation at the top of the organisation has been anything but restrained.
With TfL still dependent on government support and emergency funding deals, the surge in six-figure pay packets raises uncomfortable questions about whether Londoners and taxpayers are getting value for money regarding the capital’s transport system.
Key findings:
- In 2024-25, Transport for London had at least 2,217 employees in receipt of at least £100,000 in total remuneration. This is a 68 per cent increase from the 1,319 employees in receipt of £100,000 in total remuneration in 2023-24 and 189 per cent increase from the 766 employed in 2022-23.
- The highest remunerated Transport for London employee in 2024-25 was the commissioner, Andy Lord, who received £639,164 in total remuneration. Of this, £448,512 was salary, fees and allowances. A further £187,902 was paid in bonuses and £2,750 in benefits in kind.
- Andy Lord’s bonus of £187,902 was the largest received by an employee at Transport for London in 2024-25. This is equivalent to 53,686 peak zone one to zone two fares, or enough to pay for the cost of an individual’s weekly capped ticket for zones one to two for almost 81 years.
- Chief officer – pensions review, Tricia Wright, received the largest compensation for loss of office at Transport for London in 2024-25 at £234,513. This alone is equivalent to almost five median full-time employees’ gross annual earnings in London, and 41 per cent more than the prime minister received in salary.
- Shashi Verma, chief technology officer, had the largest employer’s pension contribution at Transport for London in 2024-25 at £60,506. This was in addition to £243,154 in salary, fees and allowances, £31,950 in bonuses and £957 of benefits in kind, providing him with total remuneration of £336,567.
- Bonuses, including retention payments, received by senior employees with total remuneration of at least £100,000 totalled £1,843,482 in 2024-25. This is equivalent to 526,709 peak zone one to zone two fares.
Data
Table 1: 10 highest remunerated Transport for London employees, 2024-25
Name
Job title
Total remuneration (£)
Notes
Table 2: 10 highest remunerated Transport for London employees by bonuses received, 2024-25
Name
Job title
Bonuses (£)
Notes
Table 3: 10 highest remunerated Transport for London employees by employer pension contribution, 2024-25
Name
Job title
Employer pension
contribution (£)
Notes
Anne Strickland, researcher at the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said:
“These figures are a damning indictment of the profligacy taking place at Transport for London under Sadiq Khan’s watch, with commuters and taxpayers picking up the tab.
“A 189 per cent rise in £100,000-plus pay packets in just two years shows that restraint has gone out of the window. While passengers face higher fares, delays and disruption, TfL’s senior staff are enjoying a six-figure boom with soaring salaries, plush pensions and bloated bonuses.
“Londoners and taxpayers deserve a transport authority focused on efficiency and reliability, not one where top pay and bonuses surge while the network struggles.”
TPA spokespeople are available for live and pre-recorded broadcast interviews via 07795 084 113 (no texts)
Media contact:
William Yarwood
Media Campaign Manager, TaxPayers’ Alliance
[email protected]
24-hour media hotline: 07795 084 113 (no texts)
Notes to editors:
- Founded in 2004 by Matthew Elliott and Andrew Allum, the TaxPayers’ Alliance (TPA) campaigns to reform taxes and public services, cut waste and speak up for British taxpayers. Find out more at www.taxpayersalliance.com.
- TaxPayers’ Alliance’s research council.
- TfL data is sourced from their respective annual accounts for the years 2022-23, 2023-24, and 2024-25.
- The TaxPayers’ Alliance has previously identified the remuneration packages of other employees who work for the Greater London Authority (GLA) and the several bodies it is responsible for.