Rail firm uses more than 168,000 litres of cleaning solution in just 10 months

TransPennine Express is continuing its enhanced cleaning regime to keep passengers safe during the coronavirus pandemic.

A train company used more than 168,000 litres of cleaning solution in the past 10 months to keep passengers safe during the coronavirus pandemic (Stuart Bailey/TransPennine Express/PA)

A train company used more than 168,000 litres of cleaning solution in the past 10 months to keep passengers safe during the coronavirus pandemic.

TransPennine Express (TPE), which runs services across northern England and into Scotland said its sanitation teams also got through more than 2,233km (1,388 miles) of cleaning tissue over the same period.

The firm introduced the enhanced cleaning regime at the beginning of the virus crisis in spring 2020.

TPE customer experience director Kathryn O’Brien said: “Our cleaning teams have been vital in delivering an enhanced cleaning regime on our trains and at stations, giving our customers the best possible travel environment, and we can’t thank them enough for their fantastic work.

“From the sanitation teams to the conductors on board our services, everyone within TPE has played their part in helping keep key workers and our customers safe during the past two years and will continue to do so during 2022.”

Also in the past 10 months, TPE passengers and staff on trains and at stations have used more than 775 litres of hand soap and filled 176,800 recyclable waste bags.

Peter Ferens, a member of TPE’s cleaning team, said: “We are continuing to deliver additional cleaning on board trains and at our stations, particularly focusing on those areas that people are more likely to touch, such as handrails, door buttons, tables, arm rests, toilets and ticket vending machines.

“I am extremely proud of the team for the time and energy that has gone into delivering our enhanced cleaning regime and I was to reassure customers that we are continuing to do all we can to keep them safe.”

Train travel has struggled to recover from the virus crisis compared with other modes of transport in Britain.

Latest provisional Department for Transport figures show passenger numbers are at 53% of pre-pandemic levels.

This is compared with 85% for car traffic and 69% for bus use outside London.