KiwiRail will slash 181 jobs over the next three years as it cuts back its infrastructure and engineering arms.
Staff will be told this week which jobs will go, and KiwiRail is seeking expressions of interest for voluntary redundancy, chief executive Jim Quinn said in a statement on Monday.
The proposal will cut 716 infrastructure and engineering jobs by a quarter, to 535.
Fifty of the 214 jobs in the northern region will go, along with 64 of 244 jobs in the central region and 43 of the 194 jobs in the southern region.
KiwiRail will also cut 24 of its 64 track machine jobs.
Mr Quinn said the job cuts were a response to economic uncertainties and would allow infrastructure and engineering to contribute to KiwiRail becoming a sustainable business.
The company hopes to achieve the required cuts through voluntary redundancy, with some staff having already expressed an interest.
"We still intend to spend $750 million on the network over this three year period. This is around $200 million less than we planned to spend prior to the full impacts of the current economic situation and events like the Christchurch earthquake becoming apparent."
He said the company was still making a significant investment of about four times what it spent in 2005, and there will be no compromise on the safety of KiwiRail's operations.
"The staff changes are not about doing the same amount of work with less staff, we will simply be doing less work but in a more efficient and planned way."
KiwiRail is aiming to implement a new structure in October.
NZ First MP Brendan Horan revealed the cuts last month, and he believes the company is looking to axe more jobs next year.
Both he and the Labour Party believe the cuts are part of preparations by the government to sell off the rail network.
The previous National government sold the Railways Corporation in 1993 and Labour bought it back for $665m in 2008, renaming it KiwiRail.
NZN