I do not know the source of your information but it is completely wrong the term " Final Salary" is mis leading.
The Railway pension scheme is based on the contributions made, it is in fact a career average earning scheme. If you work 10yrs as on gateline you pay gateline contributions for 10yrs,then a guard for 10yrs you pay 10yrs guard contributions,then a driver for 20yrs you pay 20yrs drivers contributions.That means when you retier you pension is calculated at 10yrs gateline,10yrs guard and 20yrs driver. NOT 40yrs at drivers rate.There would be no pension scheme left if it were based on the final salary that the person worked, were would the money come from! Also would you seriousley expect someone to pay 39 years contributions as driver (£100 per week) then work on a gateline for the final year and recieve a pension of 25% of that of a driver! I realise that many people in the railway industry believe that it is "final salary" but it is not. Some of the ideas expressed about pensions on the railway are years out of date. Just pick up the phone and ring RPMI and you will see. My source of info is that I was on the railway pensions committee for 3 yrs.
Falcon. I think there is a real danger in your post that you are going to start causing a lot of anxiety and concern for many people who are part of a 'railway pension scheme'. If you did a 3 year term on a pension committee, you should know better than many that the railway pension scheme is a very broad church and there are many 'sections' to it, with different rules.
Certainly, Network Rail has dramatically changed its scheme, especially for new entrants, whereas many TOCs are relatively unchanged.
My scheme guide still defines the pension being based on
'Final average pay' which is defined as:
The greater of your pay or your pensionable pay averaged
over the 12 months before you:
retire;
leave your section of the scheme; or
die.
While everything you say may be true for your personal scheme and the scheme committee you were elected to, it is not necessarily the same for others reading these posts.
It would be useful if you either tell us the scheme you are so definitive about or, if you don't want to, tell us that you could be wrong.
Some people may read your post and start to worry about their pension, especially if closer to retirement. I realise you're trying to be helpful, but I think you need to be very careful with such forthright statements.
Finally, the best people to speak to are the administrators of the scheme (phone number in your annual pension estimate or online or sign up to the 'myrps' online pension calculator. Additionally, people may want to seek independent financial advice from an IFA.