THE BOSS of a company besieged by train cancellations and strikes was labelled a 'fat-cat' today after he received a £201,000 bonus.

The rail union RMT said there was one rule for management and another for conductors after Arriva PLC chief executive Bob Davies' reward for his performance in 2001 was revealed.

And rail user groups said passengers would have been happier had the money been spent on more drivers after a catalogue of problems affecting the TransPennine main line route through East Lancashire.

Arriva was last month fined £2million for poor performance after it failed to meet driver recruitment targets in 2001 which led to trains being cancelled.

Every month this year, conductors of Arriva Trains Northern (ATN), one of the companies Arriva PLC operates, have gone on strike for 48 hours.

ATN's TransPennine Express service through Preston, Blackburn, Accrington and Burnley has been cancelled everytime the industrial action has occurred, causing misery for rail users.

But the company said the bonus was a fair reward for Mr Davies' performance and that it would ensure his continuing motivation.

He earned £541,352 in 2001 -- an increase of three percent on the previous year. This included a bonus of £201,000 and benefits in kind of £23,627.

He has been rewarded for the performance of other train and bus companies under the Arriva PLC umbrella, not just for his work with ATN.

Brian Grey, chairman of Railfuture, a group campaigning for passengers, said: "That money could have been spent on additional drivers and that would be much more appreciated by passengers, rather than giving money to this fellow, who is already getting far more than the average person.

"It is an inequality. There seems to be a compulsion upon people at the top of these organisations not to accept some moderation in what they accept in light of what they are trying to pay their employees."

Hyndburn MP Greg Pope said: "Those people I meet on East Lancashire stations who have been stranded because their trains have been cancelled or are massively late, will be boggled by this massive increase." Ribble Valley Tory MP Nigel Evans said: "It's a slap in the face for travellers. If his pay was based on performance then he would be looking at a substantial pay cut."

Bob Crow, the RMT union's general secretary, said conductors were striking because a pay offer of three per cent was unacceptable, given that drivers had been awarded 18 per cent on April 1.

The RMT and ATN have been in talks for four months but are no nearer a settlement.

Mr Crow said: "Bob Davies has well and truly joined the fat cats. He still has the cheek to tell conductors that they should not expect equal treatment.

"Arriva drivers have been paid 18 per cent, shareholders have been given a dividend increase of five per cent, yet our conductors have been told to make do with three per cent.

"Arriva told us last week that we did not understand the business. We understand the business perfectly -- there is one rule for them and another for the rest of us."

ATN said in a statement: "The objective of Arriva's remuneration policy for its executive directors is to ensure that they are highly motivated and fairly rewarded for their contribution to the group's overall performance, having due regard to the interests of shareholders, the overall remuneration structure of the group and practises adopted by comparator companies."

"For 2001, executive directors received bonuses which, on average, were three per cent higher than those paid in the previous year.

"The level of the bonus is determined on an individual basis reflecting both business and personal performance."