Over recent years, one of the less satisfactory aspects of travelling on trains from Marsden and Slaithwaite has been the poor standard of cleaning. Poor, that is, bordering on non-existent. One of SMART\u2019s committee members keeps threatening non-violent direct action in the form of taking his own mop and bucket on to the train. But all this could be about to change………..<\/p>\n
Found, on a Northern train between Garforth and York, a glossy magazine which turns out to be Northern Rail\u2019s customer magazine. It\u2019s also available on-line at http:\/\/www.northernrail.org\/magazine\/issue5\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n In it, Ian Bevan, Managing Director of Northern Rail, answers some letters from their latest postbag, including the following.\u00a0<\/p>\n I travelled on a train to Manchester which was in a disgusting state. There was rubbish everywhere including takeaway cartons and spilt drinks.<\/p>\n Mrs C S, Sheffield<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I was disappointed by the cleanliness and general appearance of my train, especially on the inside. Can\u2019t you make them clean and bright inside and take a couple of minutes at the end of each journey to mop the floors and pick up litter?<\/p>\n Mr P E, Manchester<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Ian says: <\/strong>I\u2019ve had a lot of letters about this issue and so we\u2019ve looked into how we can improve the cleanliness of our trains. We\u2019ve now brought in more cleaners at our maintenance depots to help us with deep cleaning inside the trains overnight and to hand wash the exteriors during the day. We\u2019ll also have more employees to collect litter at stations and on trains. As well as extra people, we\u2019re also looking at the equipment and materials we use to clean trains to make sure they work as well as we\u2019d like. I\u2019m confident you will start to see these changes making an impact very soon.<\/p>\n <\/p><\/blockquote>\n Let\u2019s hope we do see a difference soon.<\/p>\n <\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Over recent years, one of the less satisfactory aspects of travelling on trains from Marsden and Slaithwaite has been the poor standard of cleaning. Poor, that is, bordering on non-existent. One of SMART\u2019s committee members keeps threatening non-violent direct action … Continue reading