Network Rail plans 1,800 job cuts

Network Rail has confirmed it is planning to cut 1,800 maintenance jobs.

Network Rail says the jobs will go by April 2011

The company, which owns Britain's rail infrastructure, said it intended to trim the positions by April 2011, but "no final decisions have been made".

It said it hoped to avoid any compulsory redundancies. The firm currently employs a total of 33,000 people across the country.

Network Rail said the planned cuts were due to its budget for the next five years being trimmed by £4bn.

"We have a clear commitment to the British people to reduce the costs of running the railway," it said in a statement.

"Our plans to restructure our maintenance teams will improve the way we operate the network."

Network Rail added that it was now discussing its plans with staff and union representatives.

High speed call

Network Rail owns Britain's railway infrastructure, including all the tracks, signals, tunnels, bridges, level crossings and most stations.

It does not own any of the actual trains, which are operated by completely separate companies.

The company was established in 2002 when it replaced the struggling Railtrack.

Earlier this week, Network Rail proposed the building of a new £34bn high-speed railway line linking Scotland and London by 2030.

The line would serve Birmingham and Manchester, getting passengers from Glasgow to London in just two hours and 16 minutes, the rail firm said.

However, the government, which would make any final decision, said assessments of the costs and environmental issues involved needed to be carried out before it could approve any plans.

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