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TRANSPORT CLEANING


Tight timescales can often put cleaners under immense pressure. In the past, our teams have had a mere four minutes to clean an entire 12-carriaged train. The most important thing, therefore, is team flexibility, not to mention energy!


“Transport cleaning demands flexibility.


Service providers and operators must work together to ensure that


both parties can respond to the inevitable schedule changes that will occur from time to time.”


within this specialist sector if they’re to swiftly and effectively respond to the key challenges associated with transport cleaning. This sort of cleaning isn’t reactive, as such, but cleaning companies must work closely with transport companies, syncing their offering to the ebbs and flows of the fleets. Providers must respond to timetabling changes, not to mention blockades and delays. Depending on the nature of the delay, whether it be due to bad weather, a fault or signal disruption, cleaning teams have to get in and get out as quickly as possible, without compromising the cleanliness of the carriages.


It’s important to remember that these kinds of service providers are in the hands of the operators; they have to rely on train schedules being accurate and make plans in line with fleet availability. Tasks can only be delegated when we know what type of train is coming in, when it’s due to arrive/depart, and what cleaners are required. However, throw in a faulty carriage or a blockage on the tracks, and all the planning in the world goes out of the window.


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Another challenge is ensuring that cleaners are on the right trains in the right locations. Platform and destination alterations can play havoc when hundreds of people are involved with the cleaning process. It’s down to the managers and supervisors to ensure they plan the logistics as carefully and as feasibly possible. It’s also important that they communicate the priorities to the wider cleaning team – so that all the main tasks within those crucial minutes are performed before the train sets off on its next journey.


I’ve mentioned the affect delays can have on the actual service delivery but it’s worth mentioning the impact of such scheduling shifts on passengers. It’s understandable that the public don’t tend to take kindly to transport disruptions. This frustration can manifest itself in anti-social behaviour and this anger can, in turn, be projected onto the cleaning staff, who just so happen to be standing on the same platform when a cancellation is announced. Cleaners have to be prepared for such situations. It is down to the service provider to communicate the process, should a member of the team be faced with an irritated commuter.


During staff inductions, and every month thereafter, we offer briefings to our teams. We call these ‘toolbox tasks’ and they’re designed to give our


customer-facing cleaners the tools necessary to deal with a whole host of situations. It’s important to offer support along the way, after all, not just at the beginning of the hiring process.


Since service providers tend to work in partnership with their clients, it’s important that cleaners become brand ambassadors to appropriately represent the rail franchise. This requires hiring people who can confidently communicate with the public. Good spoken English is therefore a must, as are general customer service skills.


Everyone’s on social media these days; as such, there’s much more transparency when it comes to customer experience. People aren’t afraid to publically demonstrate their feelings or communicate third party successes and failings. Rail operators get their fair share of attention on these channels; they can be praised, criticised or neutrally approached for additional information and support. It’s a great way to engage with the public and to demonstrate commitment to your customers. For us, it’s important to be aware of what the public are saying about us. We have set up the main social media feeds so anything that’s cleaning related is flagged for our immediate attention. This helps us monitor our performance and improve our offering.


Transport cleaning demands flexibility. Service providers and operators must work together to ensure that both parties can respond to the inevitable schedule changes that will occur from time to time. Since there’s no way of sticking to a rigid plan, cleaning teams must be both proactive and reactive. When dealing with tight turnarounds, it’s important to get in and get out as quickly as possible. Sometimes that means prioritising one element of the clean over others; for instance, tanking should be top of the list so that there’s more chance of the water closets working throughout a journey duration. Ultimately, cleaning teams must work together in an ‘all hands on deck’ manner to ensure passenger comfort remains at the heart of the service offering.


www.servest.com Tomorrow’s Cleaning | 45


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