London: Train Operating Companies in the UK plan to shift their rail enquiries service to Bangalore, effecting an annual saving to the tune of 10 million Pounds.

The train operators intend to educate Indian call centre workers on minute details of Britain's railways. The move, it said, could put 1,700 jobs at risk at the existing call centres in Cardiff, Derby, Newcastle and Plymouth, 'The Guardian' said in a lead report quoting leaked documents.

Indian staff will need to cope with queries about anything from the availability of smoking carriages on South West Trains to disabled access on Fort William sleeper and weekend engineering works on the Settle-Carlisle line, the daily said.

They will have to know every fare and promotion on the network, including the difference between a saver, a supersaver, an off-peak saver and a weekender.

An internal memo to the board of the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC) revealed that the chief executive of National Rail Enquiries, Chris Scoggins visited eight call centres in three Indian cities earlier this year.

Scoggins found that they delivered an "excellent quality service". In two operations the agents had virtually no Indian accent," he was quoted as saying.

PTI