Worst rail firm pays £11m to shareholders

..after it got £17m taxpayers' cash

- GERALDINE MCKELVIE and ALEX CLARKE

BRITAIN'S most under-fire rail firm paid £11million to its shareholders while accepting government cash during the pandemic.

Figures uncovered by Labour show Avanti shareholders got the dividends for the financial year 2020/21.

And between 2019 and 2021, the Department for Transport paid the firm more than £17million in performance and management fees.

That was despite the fact that Avanti was the worst-performing rail operator, with almost half its services arriving late.