Record Cleaning Measures Keeping Train Customers Safe

London North Eastern Railway (LNER) has carried out record levels of enhanced cleaning to keep people safe onboard trains and at stations.

LNER increased the already high levels of cleaning measures at stations, onboard trains and Travel Centres earlier this year as the Coronavirus pandemic first broke-out in the UK.

In recent months, more than 140 swab tests have been carried out since July to test for traces of Covid-19 on high-frequency touch points. All tests have returned negative results thanks to the intense frequency of cleaning processes carried out by the team of 280 cleaning staff.

At any one time, LNER has more cleaners than train drivers on the East Coast route to ensure customers and staff are kept safe. In-transit cleaning teams are working onboard services with industry-leading equipment and practises being used to reduce the risk of virus transmission.

In addition to onboard fogging devices using sustainable viricidal cleaning fluids, teams from Atalian Servest carry out two-stage sanitisation on surfaces from armrests to tables and onboard toilet facilities, which are regularly checked for plentiful supplies of soap and water.

LNER Director of Safety and Operations, Warrick Dent, said: “The safety of our customers and staff is always our top priority. We recognise the importance of customers not only being safe but feeling safe, which is why we continue to provide reassurance to customers of the significantly enhanced measures we are providing to operate a ‘Covid Secure’ service.”

Customers are helping play a key part in keeping others safe by following guidelines on wearing face coverings in stations and onboard trains, as well as making seat reservations, which are currently mandatory on all LNER services.

Since March more than 307,000 hours of cleaning has been undertaken by cleaning teams stretching across the 936 miles of LNER route, and more than 184,000 litres of sustainable cleaning chemicals used by the teams.

Research by the Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB) has found the risk of Covid-19 infection being less than 0.01 per cent on an average hour-long train journey, in a carriage with no social distancing or face coverings. The analysis has shown the risk of contracting Covid-19 while travelling by train is about 1 in 11,000 journeys.

The research, which was conducted with assistance from LNER, also shows the risk more than halves if passengers wear a face covering. These have been mandatory when travelling by train since June, unless exempt.

LNER has launched a range of regionally-inspired face masks promoting London, Yorkshire, Newcastle and Edinburgh with proceeds going to the Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM). The exclusive collection is available online at personalisedfacemask.com/lner

LNER has also developed and launched an easy to use online seat finder tool to help customers identify quieter trains and travel outside of busier times as customer numbers continue to grow.