Network Rail plans to cut annual expenditure by £100m, mainly through the loss of 2,500 rail maintenance jobs. A previously unpublished analysis of Network Rail data by the RMT union found that this could lead to 670,000 fewer hours of maintenance work annually.
The cuts come after a Spending Review from the Chancellor at the end of 2020 that saw Network Rail’s budget cut by £1bn for the 2019-2024 period, down nearly 10 per cent on the £10.4bn for the previous five-year period.
In its latest report, the TUC said it was impossible to make those cuts without losing many safety-critical jobs.
Network Rail responsibilities include track maintenance and maintaining signals to ensure trains are on time and prevent collisions as well as ensuring a consistent electricity supply to the network
The TUC expressed concern that the Department for Transport’s (DfT) demand for cuts signifies its intention to reduce public funding for rail services and, with ticket revenue...