Network Rail has confirmed the organisation's directors will receive a "significantly reduced" bonus for the 2012/13 financial year.

The five executives are being given a lump sum that is worth 17 per cent of their overall salary - way below the maximum allocation of 60 per cent.

Chairman Richard Parry-Jones said there has been a lot of progress in the last 12 months, but there is still room for improvement and these bonuses reflect this.

"The remuneration committee felt that while performance was good in most areas, truly exceptional performance had not been achieved in financial efficiency and asset stewardship," he remarked.

Passenger satisfaction levels reached 85 per cent in 2012/13 - an all-time high - while £4.4 billion has been spent on almost 2,000 projects that are aimed at improving the nation's railway infrastructure.

However, Network Rail has struggled to reach the train punctuality targets set by the Office of Rail Regulation, as 91 per cent of services ran on time throughout the course of the year.

That said, the firm insists that far more trains have been arriving on schedule since the company took over the running of the UK's railways in 2002.