New fogger, powerful disinfectants and record number of cleaners - EMR continues cleaning investment

East Midlands Railway (EMR) has further boosted its investment in measures to keep its trains and stations clean.

Throughout 2020, EMR has introduced enhanced cleaning and safety measures across all its depots, staff areas, trains, and stations – this has included more cleaning of all touch points, more staff and increased monitoring.

But as the railway gears up to exit the latest round of lockdown measures, it is going even further to make sure the services it runs can be as clean as possible and to help those customers returning to the railway to be confident that they can travel safely.

The new measures include employing the most cleaners in its history, sourcing powerful disinfectant products and purchasing new specialist cleaning equipment.

As well as buying a new piece of equipment called a Motorscrubber, which generates micro droplets for enhanced cleaning of touch points, EMR has also bought a specialist fog machine.

The new fog machine uses an antiviral disinfectant to sanitise large areas – making it perfect for the inside of carriages. The mist not only kills viruses on hard surfaces but also in the air.

It will be used across the network by cleaning staff who now number 577, the highest in the company’s history.  EMR staff have been redeployed successfully from other areas of the business meaning there are now nearly a third more cleaners than before the pandemic. Customers want to visibly see staff engaged in cleaning and EMR has responded to that challenge.

Kay McCrindle, Cleaning Supervisor at Churchill Group, a contractor that EMR use, said: “Everyone in our team is so motivated, as we know how important our work is to customers and how vital it is in making sure EMR can run its services. It’s simple really, our hard work is helping to protect customers and staff, and its great that we have this new equipment to help us.

“There is a little army of us now, cleaning everything in sight and it feels good to be part of a team that can really make a difference to how safe passengers feel when they take a trip with EMR.”

Neil Grabham, Customer Services Director for East Midlands Railway, said: “Customers have repeatedly told us throughout the pandemic that Covid clean environments are their absolute priority and that is why throughout 2020 we have worked incredibly hard to make sure our trains and stations are as clean as possible. It is vital that customers returning to our network can travel with confidence.

“We have learnt a lot throughout the year and changed our approach to cleaning to embrace new systems and technology, particularly as the understanding of Covid has developed. We are always looking to invest in the best equipment possible to keep our customers safe.

“Our investment in unique specialist equipment and disinfectants, as well as having more than 500 people cleaning across our network, shows our commitment in this area and how passionate we are to make sure our passengers feel at ease when they use our services.

“We are so grateful for all the hard work by our cleaning team. It is clear to see how motivated they are, and we are all so thankful. They are doing a great job.”

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