London Underground to cut 1,000 jobs

An underground sign is seen in London August 31, 2007.

LONDON (Reuters) - London Underground plans to axe 1,000 jobs but the cuts will not affect passenger services, Transport for London said on Thursday.

The staff reduction is aimed at making the "Tube" network more efficient and is not linked to the recession, the body that runs the capital's transport system said.

The employer began talks with unions about the planned cuts on Thursday. It did not say over what time period the job losses would take place.

"Frontline operations including train, station and maintenance staff are not part of the review and will be unaffected by any changes," Transport for London said in a statement.

London Underground employs around 20,000 people.

A Transport for London spokesman said the job cuts would mainly affect backroom roles such as finance, procurement, human resources and administration.

He said the organisation hoped to avoid compulsory redundancies. It would look to achieve the figure by reducing temporary positions, by not filling vacancies and through some voluntary redundancies.

Transport workers' union RMT said it would ballot its members on industrial action if London Underground made any compulsory redundancies.

British companies have announced thousands of job cuts in recent weeks as the recession takes hold.

(Reporting by Adrian Croft; Editing by Michael Holden)