Commuters on one of London's busiest rail lines are getting a new type of train patrol aimed at making their journeys safer.

South West Trains (SWT), which runs services into Waterloo station from across south west London, Surrey and Sussex, has introduced Travel Safe Officers (TSOs).

They work in partnership with British Transport Police (BTP) to help passengers and staff on trains and at stations.

Passengers should notice a real difference

John Spellar, Transport Minister

Three officers have completed their training so far.

They cover an area stretching from Clapham Junction and Vauxhall stations to Chessington South.

SWT and BTP aim to recruit 36 officers in total.

They receive six weeks training, which includes conflict management, disability awareness and customer service.

Those already at work claim some success stories.

Julie Sedgewick has been focusing on the problem of taxi touts pestering lone women passengers at Clapham Junction station.

'Crime reduced'

Regular patrols have reduced the problem and taxi touts are likely to be prosecuted in the future.

Car crime at Ewell West station in Surrey has also been reduced by regular patrolling.

Transport Minister John Spellar said: "The first South West Trains Travel Safe Officers have already made an impact.

"As more officers complete their training over the coming months passengers should notice a real difference."

SWT says other measures it is taking to cut crime on the network include investing �4.5m with Railtrack to install Help Points and CCTV cameras.