KiwiRail is offering voluntary redundancy to all staff from next week.
In an email to all staff, seen by RNZ, KiwiRail Chief People and Communications Officer Andrew Norton said the move was designed to "reshape the business, lower our costs and create a solid footing for future growth".
"In order to keep providing services to New Zealanders and businesses - and to remain competitive - we need to use our resources better and reduce our costs.
"We've already made some changes, but we need to do more."
The transport operator has been proposing job cuts for months in a bid to lower costs and had previously offered some teams the opportunity to apply for redundancy.
Anyone working on individual or collective contracts could apply, the email said.
Employees had two weeks to apply, and KiwiRail would decide which applications had been accepted around November 11.
On October 10, KiwiRail announced it was proposing to axe more than 50 roles across ferry company Interislander's operational staff and head office.
At the time, documents seen by RNZ showed KiwiRail had plans to "right-size its workforce" following the cancellation of new ferries and the sale of the freight-only Valentine last year.
In September, the state-owned company confirmed it planned to cut all train driver roles at its Napier depot, and another 16 jobs in Palmerston North.
That was due to the closure of Winstone Pulp's mills, with its product being transported to those cities by train from the central North Island.
In July, the Rail and Maritime Transport Union said about two dozen jobs were on the line in the Zero Harm Group, a team of about 80 staff tasked with driving KiwiRail's health and safety performance.
KiwiRail chief executive Peter Reidy said the redundancies were "not an easy decision, but the time is right for us to do things differently".
"Our transformation plan will simplify our operating model and deliver what our customers are asking for - improved reliability, better customer service and greater competitiveness."
But the plan also meant reducing costs, Reidy said.
"The freight and passenger services we run by rail and Interislander must stand on their own feet financially in line with our shareholder's expectations."
The organisation would work with staff and unions to "look at all options, including redeployment".
Losing people was tough, he said.
"We have a proud culture and a team with a lot of expertise and many loyal long-serving people at KiwiRail."
