REGIONAL train operator One is to recruit more than 120 new staff in a drive to improve service standards over the next year. The move involves a range of additional jobs across the business, including 10 new ticket office staff, 13 additional carriage cleaners, nine more platform staff to assist travellers at Liverpool Street and eight new employees at the customer service centre in Norwich.

REGIONAL train operator One is to recruit more than 120 new staff in a drive to improve service standards over the next year.

The move involves a range of additional jobs across the business, including 10 new ticket office staff, 13 additional carriage cleaners, nine more platform staff to assist travellers at Liverpool Street and eight new employees at the customer service centre in Norwich.

There will also be 60 more revenue protection inspectors - 30 from next month and 30 from June - and 24 extra drivers to cover the company's busy Metro and West Anglia routes.

In addition, nine more on-board stewards and stewardesses will be working on InterCity services between London and Norwich from next week as a result of extra at-seat catering provision announced earlier this month.

One says the recruitment drive is intended to build on timetable, rolling stock, station and punctuality improvements over the past year, with the train refurbishment programme also due to continue during 2007.

Dominic Booth, managing director for One, said: “By directly addressing those areas which we know have the greatest impact on travellers' journeys and which customers highlight as important to them in their feedback through research and correspondence, we hope passengers will see a visible improvement in service standards.

“The introduction of these new recruits should help improve reliability, enhance customer assistance and information provision, raise cleaning standards, make ticket purchase quicker and simpler, deliver faster, higher quality responses to correspondence and complaints, offer better on-train catering and provide greater security for passengers on their journeys.

“These initiatives, combined with plans for further improvements to punctuality and more upgrades for stations and trains -building on progress from 2006 - should make a positive and tangible difference to the train service we provide over the next 12 months,” he added.

“We hope passengers will see the benefits and we will continue to listen to and act on their feedback to offer the best possible service.”