Keeping trains clean and what goes into this vital job is not something that many customers consider when making their journeys. Transport for Wales got the low down with Cleaning Area Manager, Mark Hornby at its Holyhead Depot as part of National Thank You Cleaner Day on the 18th of October.
The cleaning teams usually clean the interior and exterior of around 30 carriages through the night. Onboard teams also clean trains in service during the day from Bangor and Llandudno Junction, sometimes making some interesting discoveries such as false teeth, walking sticks and crutches!
The small Holyhead team also clean Avanti trains, which are based out of the Holyhead Depot and serve London routes.
Busy periods for the team include event days such as the Chester Races due to the high number of customers travelling, alongside Christmas, which is also extremely busy.
Transport for Wales moved its cleaning teams ‘in-house' five years ago to form a broader onboard team, which is really making a difference.
The rail operator employs over 100 cleaners across major locations on its network, such as Carmarthen, Cardiff, Swansea, Shrewsbury, Machynlleth, Barry, Chester, Manchester and Holyhead. Further to this, depots at Canton, Treherbert, Rhymney and Machynlleth also employ fleet carriage cleaning operatives alongside regional Station Environmental Operatives. Together, these teams do incredible work to keep trains, stations, mess rooms and offices clean and tidy.
Mark said:
“We strive to achieve high standards and the team leaders and myself consistently push for higher standards from our teams.”
“Being an end-of-the-line station, and the nearest onboard cleaning service being over 90 minutes away, we have to ensure all units arriving into Holyhead during the day receive a good clean.”
“We have had to adapt our approach, including an increase to onboards to Bangor, in order to ensure we meet standards requirements.”
“We tend to not get drawn into criticism or praise, the team understand their roles and expectations and no matter which day of the week it is, we strive to achieve a consistency in our service delivery.”
Mark continued:
“Our conductor colleagues always remind customers to take rubbish with them and we have seen an increase in customers following this instruction since we became all part of the onboard team,”
“We're definitely seeing less plastic in our bins than there used to be, which is great, but we do find some quite unusual items like crutches, walking sticks and even false teeth from time to time!”
Cleaning Operations Manager Wendy Jones said:
“Our cleaning teams really do do a fantastic job.”
“Working day and night, they ensure our customers and staff are able to travel and work in as clean an environment as possible.”
“So please take a moment to thank your cleaner today!”
The forgotten stars of the rail network – for myself many thanks to the cleaners on Cross Country always nice to have a clean train on the daily commute and they certainly stepped up a gear during Covid.