More than 120 new jobs have been created since Transport for Wales (TfW) took over running rail services in Wales and the borders last year.

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

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.”

To highlight the achievement and other developments, a new advertising campaign has been launched by TfW.

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.”

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 six-18-year olds.