Carlisle has worked in partnership with Greater Anglia since its inception in 2012. Our relationship has developed and diversified over the years, with Carlisle being awarded additional contracts to provide an ever increasing range or services across their rail network. Today, we undertake their daily station cleans, periodic and deep cleaning services across the entire network. We deploy over 70 operational staff supported by 7 managerial and supervisory staff delivering over 2200 hours of cleaning services weekly.
The Challenge
Greater Anglia approached Carlisle to take part in a tender for their deep and high-level cleaning program. Our challenge was to drive the customer’s perception of cleanliness, alongside the ability to renovate and improve physical asset cleanliness within the confines of the stations. A number of the high-level areas across the station network had not been cleaned for a number of years. This meant that, in additional to the challenges present by the need to remove high levels of layers of brake dust, dirt and grime; access strategies had to be developed and implemented. The situation was then further complicated by the proximity of the overhead power line used by the trains, which needed to be isolated before work could proceed. In order to oversee these significant challenges, there was a requirement to liaise with several different stakeholders to ensure tight cost control and the necessary track isolations and possessions were in place on the network.
The Strategy
We implemented a comprehensive service that included high level and deep cleaning services. The main objective was to enhance the feeling of passenger wellbeing at stations, through the implementation of a planned preventative maintenance strategy across the Greater Anglia network.
Through close working and collaborative processes with Greater Anglia, we were able to coordinate and schedule access for the various sites in an effective and fully
compliant manner to deliver the cleaning.
Implemented Solution
The delivery of the high level cleaning on the contract is undertaken by a team of highly trained operatives, skilled in a number of access techniques. The team was equipped with industrial steaming and vacuuming equipment designed to remove the significant build-up of grime and dust. The challenge was getting the equipment into place to undertake the clean. In partnership, equipment has been technically modified to better suit the role in which they are being used.
Flooring
At the beginning of the contract, the floor surfaces across the station portfolio were in a very poor state with significant levels of staining, ingrained dirt and contamination on most of the internal and external flooring surfaces. The internal flooring was more difficult to restore to an acceptable standard because of the staining and its anti-slip nature. The approach we took at most sites was to use an industrial high pressure steam machine with a vacuum to remove the grime and contaminants. The floors were then scrubbed using a high speed scrubber to remove the remaining dirt. These surfaces are now maintained by a regular scrubbing program. At some locations, we decided to grind and re-polish the floor. This work was delivered using a range of specialist cleaning equipment with diamond encrusted pads being used to grind the top surface of the flooring, before finer pads were used to restore the lustre of the original look and feel.
Washrooms
Also highlighted as an area in need of improvement and again using high pressured steam machines in conjunction with a host of modern techniques and products we set about improving the ambience of these critical facilities within the station environment.
Interactive Customer Satisfaction Monitoring
A program of deep cleaning was implemented and as a service innovation we installed some interactive customer satisfaction pods to gauge client satisfaction in real-time. This gave insight into the levels of satisfaction around cleanliness of the facility. The result of this initiative resulted in changes to the cleaning roster schedules, thereby improving passenger perceptions of cleaning and creating an interactive communication channel which truly engaged customers.
The Results
This difficult and complex cleaning programme has delivered significant dividends for Greater Anglia by driving up the cleaning scores on the National Passenger Surveys. These improvements are critical in helping Greater Anglia retain their rail franchise. The delivery of the floor cleaning is viewed by the facilities team at Greater Anglia as part of their asset maintenance strategy, which will extend the life of the asset. The high-level cleaning which has been delivered has significantly increased the level of natural light entering passenger areas, thereby improving the ambiance of these areas.
The biggest impact has been on the overall impression of the maintenance and cleanliness of the stations with members of the public and station staff noticing that the station environment has greatly improved.