A programme of additional train cleaning at an investment cost of £500,000 in materials, equipment and employees, will see passengers enjoying an improved on board environment on the ‘one’ railway network over the coming months.

The company is recruiting an additional 26 employees to improve the on-train environment and ambience of trains, increasing both the frequency and standard of cleaning for its entries train fleet. Additional investment is also focused on improving cleaning equipment to help remove more deep-seated dirt and provide a better travelling experience for ‘one’ passengers.

The new cleaning programme includes:
· Heavy steam cleaning of trains based in Norwich which operate on the Norwich – Sheringham, Norwich – Great Yarmouth/Lowestoft, Ipswich – Cambridge/Peterborough, Ipswich – Felixstowe and Sudbury – Marks Tey routes.
· Use of a steam cleaning truck to heavy clean carpets (in first class accommodation) and seats of the Class 321 trains which operate on Southend – London Liverpool St, Braintree – London Liverpool St and Braintree - Witham routes

· Additional heavy cleaning to take place at -
. Cambridge – for trains that operate between Cambridge and London Liverpool St.
· Chingford – for trains that operate between Chingford and London Liverpool St.
· Clacton – for trains that operate between Clacton and London Liverpool St.
· Gidea Park – for trains that operate between Shenfield and London Liverpool St.

· Additionally, on-train conductors are being encouraged to take more ownership of cleaning their trains by regularly removing litter as they pass through the train. The new cleaning initiatives demonstrate the commitment by ‘one’ to do everything possible to address key service priorities raised by regular travellers, by enhancing on-board service standards.

During 2006 on-train service quality scores - determined by independent ‘mystery shopper’ assessments - have risen from 78.96% to 84.56% on the ‘one’ network and it is hoped that the target of 89% can be attained, or surpassed, by the end of 2006.

Commenting on the cleaning initiatives, Steve Rees, ‘one’ Engineering Director said, “I hope these initiatives will provide an improved and pleasant travel experience for all our customers, and will be especially welcomed by our regular travellers. We recognise the importance of meeting our customers’ understandably high expectations of our on-board service standards – especially those around cleanliness, comfort, and customer service.”