Is the top job at Network Rail really 'the worst job in Britain'?

Mondays can be the hardest time to love your job. With the whole week stretching ahead of you, it can be difficult to pinpoint aspects of work you find enjoyable.

However, would you go as far as describing your job as “one of the worst jobs in Britain”? That’s how Andrew Haines, the new boss of Network Rail, said his job was described to him before he took the role.

Speaking in front of the Commons transport select committee, Haines said he took on the role “because I’ve been very passionate throughout all my career about putting passengers first and I’m not sure Network Rail is perceived as that at the moment,” the Times reports.

However, could this really be the worst job in Britain? The Guardian reports that Haines has a salary of £588,000 per year, which would probably sweeten even the hardest of jobs. But a leaked internal report obtained by the Guardian last year showed inspectors under Haines believed they no longer had enough resources to do the job properly – which means the stress toll could be extremely high.