Avanti West Coast was awarded millions of pounds’ worth of taxpayer money in performance awards last year, new figures show.
The train operator has been criticized by passengers for delays and poor service this year.
But the government handed the company over £6.5m in 2021 for “operational performance” and “customer experience”.
The government said the performance charge was “based on data from before the current disruption”.
But Labor has called the payments a “scandalous” waste of taxpayers’ money.
Details of Department of Transportation (DfT) payments to passenger rail operators show that the bonuses related to Avanti’s performance between April and September 2021.
It was recognized for “operational performance, customer experience, financial performance and management fees”.
However, during part of this period, between July and September 2021, Avanti’s train services fell by 21.1% and trains were only on time 55.8% of the time.
In addition, 9,000 complaints were received in the same period, the highest of any rail operator.
Since then, Avanti has come under fire for cutting its August schedules, with trains between London and Manchester being hit the hardest.
Traffic was reduced from seven trains per hour to at least four and ticket sales were suspended, citing “severe staff shortages”.
The company’s contract was due to expire on October 16, but the government has given it until April 1 to improve its performance.
The operator introduced a new timetable with an increased number of trains this month.
Shadow Transport Secretary Louise Haigh accused ministers of “rewarding abject failure” and “handing millions of pounds in performance bonuses and fees to this failing operator”.
“Rather than holding operators accountable for their messy performance, ministers are handing out taxpayer-funded bonuses,” she said.
The DfT said the performance assessment was independently evaluated and Avanti was held accountable for the operations and deliveries under its control.
“We have signed Avanti to a short-term, six-month contract while they roll out important improvements and service upgrades and continue to closely monitor the situation,” it said in a statement.
Avanti forwarded press inquiries about the payments to the Department of Transportation.
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