28.04.15
Network Rail spends £1.3m on domestic flights for employees
Network Rail employees travelling on business spent £1.3m on internal UK flights in the last two years – when it was a cheaper option than rail travel.
A total of 8,353 flights were taken by staff in the period between April 2013 and March 2015. The figures were obtained by The Sun in a Freedom of Information request.
However a further look at the figures shows that 90% of the domestic flights were to Scotland, and in the same time period as the flights occurred Network Rail also spent £32m on rail travel.
A Network Rail spokesman said: “If employees have to attend a 10am business meeting in Scotland it is to cheaper to fly up than take the train the night before and have to pay for overnight accommodation.”
He went on: “For the majority of staff travel rail is much the better way to go. A total of £1.3m was spent on flights in 2013-14 and 2014-15 but £32m was spent on rail travel during that period.
“Network Rail's 35,000 people have to pay the going rate for all travel, be it air, rail or car. Our people are also obliged to use the cheapest method available, sometimes that means by air but mostly we travel by rail.”
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