French train maker Alstom is considering sacking "hundreds" of staff at Britain's biggest train factory after running out of work, media reported Thursday.

The Daily Telegraph newspaper said the job cuts would fall at Alstom's central England plant in Derby, citing the impact of stalled government talks over new contracts for suburban rail stock.

The Telegraph, which did not cite its source, added concerns were also growing over more possible delays to Britain's long-planned new high-speed railway HS2.

An Alstom spokesperson indicated to AFP that "there was no decision taken" over the Derby site's future, but added that talks with the UK government were "still ongoing".

The newspaper said Alstom had not raised the prospect of closure, but noted this could be "inevitable" as it faces no new business until work begins on HS2 trains in more than two years.

Managers at Alstom's Derby facility have now restarted a voluntary redundancy process that had been paused in January, according to the paper.

The report comes after British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak last year controversially axed a key northern England leg of HS2, which has been plagued by chronic delays and ballooning costs.

Alstom describes itself as the leading manufacturer of new trains in Britain and Ireland, and a top supplier of signalling and railway infrastructure.

It employs 6,000 people in Britain and Ireland across 37 sites including the key Derby hub.