MORE than 1,000 Railtrack jobs were saved when the company was placed in administration, the Evening Press can reveal.

Plans to axe around 1,100 middle managers were shelved when the embattled rail maintenance company's fate was effectively sealed by the Government.

The move, which will have saved many jobs at Railtrack's regional headquarters in York, was sanctioned by new chief executive John Armitt.

Railtrack today confirmed that former chief executive Stephen Marshall planned to cut almost ten per cent of the workforce.

National newspaper reports yesterday suggested the company was in the process of drawing up plans to shed staff in order to cut jobs.

They claimed that Mr Armitt was planning to wield the axe on middle management to avoid losing engineering and maintenance staff on the rail network.

But today a Railtrack spokeswoman said those reports were inaccurate. She said the company had been considering cuts, but had shelved the plans in the light of its current position.

"Our former chief executive, Steve Marshall, was reviewing the business plans before administration," she said.

"This plan (proposed cuts) was going to happen but administration shelved all that. Chief executive John Armitt has looked at the plans with the company to work out how to take the company forward.

"This is not going to happen. You could say that administration has saved these people's jobs."

At Railtrack's York headquarters, a spokeswoman added: "As part of the merger of London North Eastern zone with East Anglia zone, we are recruiting more staff to work on the front line."

Meanwhile, a weekend report claimed German consortium Swiftrail is to table a fresh bid for Railtrack in a deal that includes compensation for shareholders. Swiftrail's proposal would also provide a chance for the Government to buy back the company in three years, according to one newspaper. The report said the offer could result in Railtrack being taken out of administration by June to help accelerate network modernisation.

Swiftrail first announced its interest in October - soon after the operation was placed in administration when the Government withdrew financial support.

Updated: 16:07 Monday, January 14, 2002