RAIL union RMT warned of a “fresh tidal wave of anger” yesterday over the decision by failing train operator Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) to award its chief executive a “telephone-number” salary.

The firm runs Southern Rail, where an ongoing dispute with unions has caused months of delays and disruption.

GTR chief executive Charles Horton pocketed a whopping £495,000 in the year up to June 2016, a period which saw a series of crippling strikes over proposals to extend unsafe driver-only operation (DOO) on Southern services.

RMT general secretary Mick Cash warned that the “continuing pay bonanza in the Southern boardroom will unleash a fresh tidal wave of anger,” particularly after a weekend of disruptions that RMT blamed on management failure.

Mr Cash added: “I’m just astounded that they can be paying telephone-number salaries to one manager, and perhaps if he’s on £500,000, what are the rest on?

“Guards fighting for public safety for the past year have been abused and threatened and it’s about time this company got its priorities right and got back round the table and negotiated a settlement with the unions that guarantees the second safety-critical member of staff on their trains.”

A GTR spokesman said: “As a matter of policy, we do not discuss the remuneration of any of our employees.”

RMT and sister rail union Aslef, which are both in dispute with Southern over DOO trains, have warned that the proposals could see passenger safety undermined and jobs lost, purely in the pursuit of profit.

RMT members on Southern staged their 31st strike in the ongoing dispute on Saturday