UK ministers look to install highly paid boss to spearhead rail reform plan

Salary of new senior post could dwarf DfT pay scales in effort to speed up troubled Great British Railways project

Ministers are trying to install a highly paid rail industry figure in the Department for Transport to entrench plans to create Great British Railways (GBR) before the general election.

The DfT could break Whitehall's pay structure to create the senior post, in an attempt to accelerate changes for a new public body managing the country's rail transport - although the Treasury is reluctant to sanction another DfT salary beyond normal pay grades.