Transport for Wales will award employees performance-related payments based on how many tickets they scan on services.
It pays employees bonuses based on how many tickets they scan. The incentive is intended to raise revenue and cut down on fraud, because people can claim refunds for unscanned tickets for up to four weeks after a journey.
During the 2024/25 financial year, the total performance-related pay paid across the group was £1,037,921, as staff scanned more than a million tickets each month throughout the year.
When applied as an average across all employees in accordance with the Government Financial Reporting Manual calculation requirements, it is a 60% increase compared to £616,120 in 2023/24. This is a result of increased passenger travel, an increased focus on conductor scanning and the introduction of pay as you go.
A Transport for Wales spokesperson said: “The performance-related pay benefits our frontline operational staff. These incentives are directly tied to their duties, such as ticket sales and scans, and on-board catering. There is no management bonus scheme. With a rise in passenger numbers, our frontline teams scanned almost 13 million barcode tickets in 2024/25, averaging over a million scans each month. This has assisted in growing our rail revenue by 17.8% to £174.8 million.
“This increase in scans is a result of a successful pay performance initiative for our frontline employees who are paid commission per ticket scanned and for tickets sold onboard trains. As passenger journeys are up a fifth this year and more people are travelling using electronic means, or pay as you go, our employees have earned more commission. Every penny of the revenue generated through these efforts is reinvested back into improving services for our passengers and the wider Welsh transport network.”
