Ministers have handed train driver union barons a 75 per cent pay hike for doing overtime.
Under a deal green-lighted by Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander, hundreds of drivers will get £580 to work an overtime shift between Monday and Friday and £600 at weekends.
It is the latest attempt to try and persuade drivers to work on one or more of their three days off each week.
It comes amid fears of rail travel chaos this Christmas because of a shortage of drivers willing to do overtime, which some operators heavily rely on to run full timetables.
But it risked sparking a fresh backlash after drivers were already handed an inflation-busting pay hike of 14.25 per cent over three years in August, taking the average salary to £69,000 for a four-day week.
That deal, brokered by Ms Alexander’s predecessor Louise Haigh, sparked a backlash at the time because train drivers’ union Aslef announced fresh strikes just two days after it was announced.
According to correspondence seen by The Sunday Times and dated December 12, overtime pay will have risen by 75 per cent from £332 during the week, by 67 per cent from £359 on Saturdays and by 39 per cent from £431 on Sundays.
The deal will apply to 800 drivers who work for West Midlands Trains, which runs services under the London Northwestern Railway and West Midlands Railway brands.
The Department for Transport said: ‘We are determined to move towards a seven-day working week and end the overreliance on rest-day working.’