Rail Maintenance Firm To Axe 450 Jobs

Railway maintenance group Jarvis have announced it will be axing 450 jobs, as the company struggles with delays to Network Rail's spending programmes.

The York-based company, which employs 4,000 staff, said it had seen a "significant delay and reduction" in new projects and warned profits for next year could be much lower than management had previously expected.

Rail operator Network Rail is delaying spending in the first year of is £4 billion track renewals programme, which is affecting revenues.

Executive chairman Steven Norris said: "It has been a painful process to absorb the impact of Network Rail's sudden reduction in workload."

The redundancies, which equate to around 15 per cent of the workforce - come as Network Rail is under pressure from the rail regulator to improve efficiencies by almost a third over the next five-year control period, which begins on Wednesday.

John O'Kane, Jarvis finance director commented: "Network Rail has effectively cut both costs and volumes in the first year of the five-year period."

Jarvis last week blamed continued poor demand for its decision to shut the container services operation, which launched in 2006 and operated between Thamesport on the Isle of Grain and Doncaster, South Yorkshire, and Birch Coppice, Birmingham.

However, it is to concentrate on its healthier coal haulage coals haulage business, which continued to trade in line with expectations.

(JM/BMcC)