PRIVATE train operators have held down staff pay while pocketing more than £300 million in taxpayer cash during the Covid-19 pandemic, new RMT research reveals.

Department for Transport data shows that, after the firms were put on special contracts amid a slump in passenger numbers, they made £310m in taxpayer-funded profits between March 2020 and September 2022, with the figure set to top £400m by this autumn.

The total, which the transport union noted can be “turned into shareholder dividends,” is on top of the estimated £300m spent indemnifying the companies so that “don’t lose a penny” during ongoing national rail strikes over jobs, pay and working conditions.