Network Rail: Are redundancies coming?

[Horizon22]

Well, the modernising maintenance went well. Less boots on the ground, but considerably more managers.

As for putting signallers on role clarity contracts, they may try that for new starters but would probably be met with resistance by longer term staff.

The article states this

The RMT trade union confirmed it was aware of the redundancy plan but said it would not affect the trade union’s members, who are frontline workers rather than managerial staff.

So seeing as the RMT aren't concerned, I doubt grades represented by them should be.

 

[Harpo]

I don’t think it’s that much of a surprise. Duplication in certain roles at management levels shared between TOC/NR currently was likely to be one of the types of roles to go.

Along with contractual interface roles.

 

[The Planner]

"track maintenance company" because thats all NR do.

 

[YorkshireBear]

"track maintenance company" because thats all NR do.

I suppose that alone should have tipped me off as to the quality of the article...

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 15 Jan 2026 ==

The whole purpose of GBR is to join up the railway, which reduces the interfaces and transactions, and that means fewer people.




What the press have is what has been released internally in two parts of NR; every other part has had a very similar communication to those who might be affected. Whilst I don’t know, it’s almost certain that NR has not briefed the press, because that sort of briefing would be done by the national media team (“a Network Rail spokesperson”), and not the two senior directors quoted. It looks like someone affected has gone to the press with the internal comms. Hence why it has “been seen by The Telegraph”, which is press language for someone sending something in whatever is the digital version of a brown envelope.

The article is in any event misleading. It is not 15% of the workforce, as is patently obvious from the numbers the article quotes, namely “estimated” (by who?) 2,000 posts out of 41,000. That’s less than 5%. Maths evidently not this reporter’s long suit.

The proposal is, AIUI, to reduce the budgeted management cost by 15%. It only directly affects managers, and will affect higher graded posts more (as that reduces cost more per post). Personally I’d be surprised if 2,000 people end up leaving, as there’s quite a few vacancies being carried in some places.

Yeah fair points. I had noticed the 15% part and just assumed that A they weren't good at maths and had conflated savings into directly workforce reductions.

 

[The Planner]

I suppose that alone should have tipped me off as to the quality of the article...

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 15 Jan 2026 ==


Yeah fair points. I had noticed the 15% part and just assumed that A they weren't good at maths and had conflated savings into directly workforce reductions.

Biggest cuts rumoured to be in the capital delivery side from what I hear.

 

[YorkshireBear]

Biggest cuts rumoured to be in the capital delivery side from what I hear.

All sorts of rumours flying around but certainly where I work I haven't heard that one, I'd hope not in our region too as they are already cut to the bone with us paying the contractor to undertake most of the roles (my views on such an arrangement are not for a public forum!)

I guess each region will cut as it sees fit so there will be a lot of regional variance.

 

[Harpo]

"track maintenance company" because thats all NR do.

Even more blinkered than Coucher’s ‘Private Engineering Company’.