01 May 2019

Transport for Wales has created more than 120 new jobs since it took over running rail services in Wales and the borders in 2018.

They range from engineering and design roles to customer service and cleaning positions.

To highlight this and the many other significant developments happening now and in the near future, a new advertising campaign is being launched on 1^st May.

The campaign, which includes a TV advert, celebrates the new jobs as well as the hard work being undertaken to improve rail services in Wales and the borders.

The campaign aims to generate ticket sales, increase revenue and enable further investment in services.

Featuring real employees, the TV advert will show a behind-the-scenes view of the improvements the TfW team is currently undertaking, including investing £40m in upgrading its existing fleet and station deep-cleans.

Colin Lea, Commercial and Customer Experience Director for TfW Rail Services, said: “Since we took over last year, we’ve been extremely busy behind the scenes working on ways to improve the rail service. We have placed huge orders for new trains, begun detailed design and planning work for the South Wales metro and started to deliver improvement works at stations.”

“We wanted this advert to champion our incredible colleagues and showcase the hard work put in every day, so our customers can feel confident that we’re working tirelessly to give them the rail service they deserve.”

Ken Skates, the Minister for Economy and infrastructure said: “I hope customers will welcome the improvements TfW is making to our rail services. I’m delighted to see our Rail Services team embracing the Welsh Government’s ambitious vision for the railway in Wales and working hard to make it a reality for our customers.

“I’m pleased to welcome the 120 new members of the team to Transport for Wales and to thank everyone at TfW for their continued commitment to customers as we continue on this important journey of transformation.”

Lynda Ogden, a TfW customer service adviser based in Rhyl, who appears in the new advert, said: “It’s great to see the investment being made to help improve both the journeys of our future customers, and our working lives. TfW has made significant progress so far in a very short space of time and hopefully they’ll continue to do so.”

When TfW took over the franchise in 2018, the organisation published a timeline of changes “Coming Down the Track” detailing the transformational improvements that would be taking place by 2025.

Some improvements have already taken place which include reduced ticket prices, the deep clean of many stations and the refurbishment of several trains.

TfW has also introduced ‘Delay Repay 15’ which offers compensation or refunds to customers if their train has been delayed by more than 15 minutes.

Other improvements that will be taking place later this year and in 2020 include the launch of smart ticketing and the introduction of new fare initiatives which includes better fares for 6-18-year olds.

For more information about TfW, and how to purchase tickets, visit tfwrail.wales, a ticket office or download the TfW Rail app.