SIXTY middle management jobs at York-based rail giant GNER have been axed in a reorganisation of the company's structure.

The positions in GNER's back office manager workforce were cut following months of consultation between the company and its staff.

Alan Hyde, GNER corporate affairs manager, said most of the redundancies had been achieved voluntarily.

The Evening Press understands that 12 people in York lost their jobs, with the remaining redundancies spread across the network.

The 60 job losses form around a seventh of the company's 400-strong management workforce. No train staff, support staff or customer services staff were affected by the changes.

Mr Hyde said the reorganisation had been carried out following a routine review of GNER's structure.

The aim was to make GNER, which runs services between Scotland and London on the flagship East Coast Main Line, "fit for the future".

Mr Hyde said he appreciated that it had been an unsettling and uncertain time for GNER's back office managers.

"We will be losing 60 managers. These are modest changes to a management population of 400 people.

"It has been a difficult process, which has led to some uncertainty for managers. Most of the changes were achieved voluntarily, a very small number were not.

"Some were achieved through natural wastage and those of a certain age and a certain length of service in the railway industry have departed with a handsome severance package."

The final number of job losses was less than the figure of 80 which had been suggested by leading rail insiders last October.

Mr Hyde stressed that the company had taken its time and handled the process "patiently" and "sensitively".

He said GNER was now looking forward to the future and building on its "excellent reputation" for customer services and investment in people.

Updated: 11:27 Saturday, January 25, 2003