The salaries of some London Tube drivers are now higher than £100,000, more than most airline pilots, new data has revealed.
Documents released to the Sunday Times show the highest paid driver in the year to November received £103,374, while nine were paid upwards of £100,000.
It comes as drivers on the Central line prepare to strike on Saturday on the final shopping weekend before Christmas.
Drivers will walk out from 8pm on Friday December 21 until 2am on Saturday December 22; then again two hours later from 4am until 8pm in protest after a train driver was dismissed.
A spokeswoman for Transport for London (TfL) said three per cent of drivers earn total remuneration of more than £70,000, largely because they are "highly skilled test drivers and instructors".
Total remuneration includes base pay and employer pension contributions.
The FoI responses, from Transport for London (TfL), showed that the total remuneration for the highest paid Tube driver had risen by 69 per cent since 2012, the Times reported.
Nine drivers were paid more than £100,000; another 30 made more than £80,000, and 100 were paid £70,000 to £80,000.
Most drivers, more than 3,000, were paid between £60,000 and £70,000, and 900 drivers - mainly part-timers or those who left during the year - received less than £60,000.
TfL said the terms and conditions of pay were agreed with trade unions in 2014.
The figures include performance awards, overtime, employer pension contributions as well as basic salary.
But they do not include free annual travel passes covering zones 1-9 given to drivers, the newspaper reported.
According to Prospects, a careers website, pilots in a first officer role earn between £36,000 and £48,000.
While the starting salary for a captain with a medium-sized airline may range from £57,000 to £78,000.
In a statement, TfL said: “The average base pay of a Tube driver is £55,011. The overwhelming majority earned total remuneration – including base pay, overtime, employer pension contributions and certain allowances - of £70,000 or considerably less.
"Just over three per cent of drivers earned total remuneration over this, largely because they are highly skilled test drivers and instructors who have additional responsibilities to train drivers in the safe operation of trains using new, advanced signalling systems.
“These terms and conditions were agreed with trade unions in 2014. As with all other agreements made between London Underground and our unions, we have adhered to these terms and conditions since.
"These figures include all performance awards, overtime, employer pension contributions as well as basic salary.”
