SOUTH West Trains has been shortlisted as a finalist in this year’s 2016 European Contact Centre and Customer Service Awards for the launch of its innovative new 24/7 video contact centre.

South West Trains will go up against other major companies such as Legal and General, BT consumer and Genesys and Panasonic in the category of Innovation in Customer Service.

The award recognises innovative new products or services that enable organisations to meet the needs of their customers more effectively.

This year, South West Trains launched a dedicated state-of-the-art video contact centre in Basingstoke which is linked through to 91 video ticket machines at stations across its network. It is believed to be first network of its kind in the country and is already proving popular with customers who need help to use the ticket machines or to find the best value ticket for their journey.

It is part of an investment of around £50m in customer service improvements which also includes the introduction of 100 new customer ambassadors at stations, roll out of 1,400 extra car parking spaces and launch of a new website and smartphone app.

Adam Piddington, deputy customer service director for South West Trains, said: “This is great news and represents the huge investment we have been making to improve the service we offer to our customers.

“The new video contact centre has been a big hit with customers to provide real time guidance and help in finding the best value ticket for their journey.

“Since its launch two months ago, we’ve already seen over 9,000 customers using the service and we’re confident this will continue to be a popular service with our customers.

“We’re really pleased to be shortlisted for such a prestigious award that recognises the steps we have been taking to help our customers.”

This comes on the back of South West Trains being ranked one of the “best train companies in London and the South East” in the latest independent research data by Transport Focus.

The National Rail Passenger Survey shows that in spring 2016, overall satisfaction rose to 82 per cent, marking a two per cent year on year increase.

Satisfaction with South West Trains services was also four per cent higher than the average for train operators in London and South East.

The awards will be held on November 21 in London.