£4m is being invested by Greater Anglia to replace and improve six train washing plants.
The new train washers will be installed at Southend Victoria and Crown Point Depot in Norwich.
The train washers at Clacton, Colchester, Ilford Depot and Orient Way, in London, will be refurbished.
These new train washers that are being built are more efficient and effective because they will save more water, energy and time.
Martin Moran, Greater Anglia's Commercial, Customer Services and Train Presentation Director, said: “The train washers at Southend Victoria and Crown Point depot are around 35 years old and need replacing. The new washers will improve the quality and standard of train washing, as well as helping to save up to 10% of the volume of water needed, compared to what was previously used.
“In the meantime, we are planning to put in a hand washing regime to maintain high standards during the transition. Our new trains look great, and we want to keep them looking this way for years to come, which is why we are heavily investing in cleaning. We are currently in the process of replacing every single train in our fleet to make our customers' journeys easier and more comfortable.
“During the current Coronavirus pandemic, we have stepped up our cleaning regime, focusing on high touch areas such as buttons, poles and handles. We have also invested in fogging guns, which are used for spraying and sanitising large areas. We are doing all we can to keep our trains and stations as clean as possible to help keep people safe while travelling with us.”
The upgrades and replacement of the train cleaning stations are all part of a £1.4bn project to improve train services in East Anglia.
The work to upgrade these stations will take place in phases and is set to be completed by February 2021.
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Very nice. Greater Anglia is the best train operator.
So Clacton, Colchester, Ilford Depot and Orient Way depots will have their train washers refurbished whilst at Southend and Norwich Crown depots are to have new train washing systems. Nice. Thanks Greater Anglia.
That has to be good news; one of the Norwich sets I spotted in Liverpool St. last week looked a bit careworn externally. It is to be hoped that the new machines clean right down to sole bar level, avoiding the grotty fold-under typical of so much stock.