THIS year's bumper remuneration packages for the bosses of Stagecoach - parent company of South West Trains - have been revealed in its annual report.

Chief executive Brian Souter, the 50-year-old co-founder of the public transport empire, gets £817,000 (up £17,000 on 2003).

Fellow executive directors Graham Eccles, 57, and Martin Griffiths, 38, take home £490,000 (up £147,000) and £397,000 (up £66,000) respectively.

Stagecoach chairman Robert Speirs, 67, is being paid £90,000 (up £18,000), while fellow non-executive directors Ewan Brown, 62, Stagecoach co-founder Ann Gloag, 61, Russell Walls, 60, Janet Morgan, 58, and Iain Duffin, 57, are each paid £30,000, up £3,000 on the year before.

The pay totals for the directors include salary and fees, performance-related bonuses, benefits in kind and non-pensionable allowances.

On top of that directors own millions of shares and share options between them.

The company has always insisted the pay packages are "not rewards for failure", and that executive directors bear the greatest responsibility for delivering corporate strategy.

As previously reported by business South, Stagecoach, with its focus on trains and buses, recorded an annual operating profit of £120m (up £7m) against a turnover of £1,792.3m.

One of the key turnover drivers is SWT, which employs 5,200 people and carries 350,000 passengers on 1,650 trains a day between the south coast and London Waterloo.

Mr Souter, who began his business empire in 24 years ago with two buses in Perth, Scotland, said: "The hard work and loyalty of all our people and their positive response to our strategy has ensured Stagecoach has made a fast recovery.

"Now that we are firmly back on track, our challenge is to reposition the group as a leading UK based public transport specialist and continue to generate growth and shareholder value."

A commuter watchdog, The Rail Passengers' Committee for Southern England, has already urged SWT to continue to invest in both trains and staff.