TRACK maintenance firms have had a buffeting ride on the stock market following Network Rail's announcement that it planned to take rail safety work in-house.

Shares in Peterhouse Group, which owns rail maintenance company First Engineering, dropped 26 per cent, or 44p to 130p, while Wolverhampton's Carillion saw its share price fall 16 per cent, or 267p, to 145p.

Shares in Jarvis, which on Thursday saw £67m wiped from its market value after news that Network Rail (NR) was investigating claims it entered falsified documents about track work, dropped another ten per cent, or 24.5p, to 216p.

Balfour Beatty escaped relatively unscathed, dropping three per cent, or 5p to 201p, while Amec was up 0.7 per cent, or 1.75p, at 260p.