RAIL passengers are set to benefit from new technology and more personal customer service on South West Trains following a £50m investment.

The improvements, delivered as part of a programme of initiatives agreed with the Department for Transport, will also see more seats and extra car parking.

A hundred customer ambassadors will also be on hand at station concourses to help with customer queries and to offer advice. In addition, the company has also pledged to roll out around 170 new ticket machines across the network, and over half of these machines will provide a 24/7 video link allowing customers to talk directly to a member of staff at a dedicated video customer contact centre in Basingstoke.

Arthur Pretorius, customer service director for South West Trains, said: “We want to take a far more proactive approach to customer service and the way we interact with our customers.

“The changes we are planning will focus our resources and our technology into a new modern approach that really puts customers at the heart of our business and makes their end-to-end journeys easier and smoother.”

Other improvements for customers include 57,000 more seats for passengers, 1,400 extra car parking spaces, a new website and mobile app, more fares promotions and a new online booking system.

The new customer service initiatives, which involve consultation with trade unions, are expected to be introduced early next year. It is planned that as many of the new customer ambassador and customer contact centre roles as possible will be filled by existing South West Trains ticket office employees.