Tube Lines was fined �15m for poor performance

The payment to Terry Morgan, chief executive of Tube Lines, was revealed in the company's annual report.

Bob Crow, of the Rail Maritime and Transport (RMT) union, said the bonus would be taken into account when pay rises for workers are next negotiated.

Tube Lines was fined �15m earlier this year by London Underground (LU) for poor performance.

The firm, which runs the Northern, Jubilee and Piccadilly lines, reported that it made a pre-tax profit of �41.6m in the year to March after receiving �360m from the taxpayer.

Tube Lines must have a novel definition of performance RMT's Bob Crow

Tube Lines and Metronet were given 30-year leases to maintain and modernise the Tube as part of the controversial public-private partnership (PPP).

Mr Crow, leader of the RMT, has described this as a scheme for guaranteeing risk-free profits, whether or not services improved.

"A six-figure bonus for the chief executive really is the icing on the cake," he said.

"Tube Lines must have a novel definition of performance. They should try selling it to the travelling public and to our members who have to keep the system running.

"If the chief executive is worth a bonus approaching a third of his salary, then what about our members who actually go out and do the work?"

In the annual report Mr Morgan said Tube Lines had made "sound progress" in the past year, with performance trends moving in the right direction.

But he admitted there had been "disappointments", mainly blamed on under-investment in previous years.