Network Rail bosses are spending £10,000 a week on flights because it's cheaper than taking trains

Despite urging Britons to take the train to cut carbon emissions, Network Rail staff spent thousands on domestic flights last year - admitting it was because planes sometimes cost less

Network Rail staff spent thousands of dollars on flights last year - including nearly 1,000 domestic journeys that could have been made by train (

Image: Guy Bell/REX/Shutterstock

Network Rail bosses spent £10,000 a week on plane tickets last year because flying was cheaper than the train, it has been reported.

More than a third of all flight costs incurred by staff at major railway and station owners in the country were for domestic journeys that could easily have been made by train, Freedom of Information data revealed.

Figures show that staff purchased 985 plane tickets for flights within the UK, and another 1,622 for international travel.

Some 72 of the internal flights operated by Network Rail staff were between Birmingham and Glasgow; a route served by a direct line, with train fares costing up to £206 one-way.

One director, Michelle Handforth, spent £8,000 on domestic flight costs despite earning a generous salary of £330,000.

Rail fares saw the biggest increase in a decade in March, rising 5.9%. figures obtained by a freedom of information request by newspaper broadcast.

Inflation figures for the same month showed that ticket prices are almost five times more expensive today than they were in 1987.

Network Rail has meanwhile admitted that staff often fly for business trips, as it is cheaper than taking the train.

The company continues to promote train travel so that people reduce their carbon emissions.

Mike Childs of Friends of the Earth said it was no secret that the trains are much more environmentally friendly and said the figures were a "sorry accusation" of the state of the country's rail services.

The news will come as no comfort to railroad workers across the country, who staged their latest mass walkout on Saturday amid an ongoing dispute over pay, jobs and conditions.

RMT members went on strike on what was considered one of the busiest days for travel of the year. This coincided with members of Aslef continuing to organize "work to govern" actions, which meant that parts of the country were left without services running.

Dozens of ticket offices at stations across the country are also set to close as train companies seek to cut costs, leaving many people frustrated and angry.