Liverpool Street Station Manager Kirit Varsani (far left) with customer sevices' staff Ami Street, Mark Ball and Steve Mitchell testing new smartphones

Rail staff at Liverpool Street and across the Anglia main-line network are being given smartphones to get latest travel information for commuters—especially when things go wrong.

Greater Anglia train operators are issuing 1,600 BlackBerrys to make sure staff at stations and on trains have up-to-the-minute data about the network and other services including the London Underground.

Their customer services director Andrew Goodrum said: “Passengers tell us they want immediate information when things go wrong—these BlackBerrys will help improve that along with our twitter feed and website.”

Greater Anglia operates 1,900 train services a day and carries two million passengers a week.