My very first dirty VTEC train

[Harlesden]

Regular visitor to Leeds. Always get the 19:45 back to London. It usually sits in Platform 6 for 25-30 minutes before departure but not last week. As we were finally allowed onto the platform at around 19:32, the set was just pulling in loaded with passengers. Surprisingly, we departed dead on time at 19:45 but there had obviously been no cleaning done. Tables were littered with newspapers and other debris.
Would you prefer to depart on time on a dirty train - or be delayed 15-20 minutes while the delayed incoming train is cleaned up?

 

[racyrich]

Perhaps the guard could make an announcement along the lines of
'Sorry for our late arrival. So that passengers on our return departure are not delayed or inconvenienced by having to wait for the train to be cleaned, please take all your rubbish with you and leave the train as you'd wish to find it.'

 

[Saint66]

Regular visitor to Leeds. Always get the 19:45 back to London. It usually sits in Platform 6 for 25-30 minutes before departure but not last week. As we were finally allowed onto the platform at around 19:32, the set was just pulling in loaded with passengers. Surprisingly, we departed dead on time at 19:45 but there had obviously been no cleaning done. Tables were littered with newspapers and other debris.
Would you prefer to depart on time on a dirty train - or be delayed 15-20 minutes while the delayed incoming train is cleaned up?

Caught the 20:45 on Thursday night from Leeds to KGX, having been delayed it arrived in platform 8 at 20:41 and departed at 20:47, with the loading of a few food supplies and all passengers and staff in those six minutes. The guard quickly apologised for any issues with reservations and other such problems caused by such a turnaround, but there wasn't any to be seen.

The train was actually relatively clean, and I wonder if the previous guard had made an announcement asking passengers to take their rubbish, or if a cleaner had jumped on board at some point along the route.

I actually expected the service to be dirty considering it's delay, but it wasn't, and the lack of reservations was not a problem either.

Maybe you were just unlucky in terms of the previous passengers! I appreciated my service only leaving two minutes late despite it's late arrival, and accepted it may be a little dirty on board.

 

[SPADTrap]

Your thread title sounds like a kids Christmas present toy :razz:

 

[Harlesden]

SPADTrap. Great comment and amusing signature BTW

 

[Bletchleyite]

Perhaps the guard could make an announcement along the lines of
'Sorry for our late arrival. So that passengers on our return departure are not delayed or inconvenienced by having to wait for the train to be cleaned, please take all your rubbish with you and leave the train as you'd wish to find it.'

That's not actually a bad idea. I do often leave things like water bottles on the seat/in the pouch on VWC if getting off at the terminus because I know the cleaner will walk through and collect them (and it means the bin won't be overfilled), but if I knew it wasn't going to be cleaned I would ensure they went in the bin.

 

[johnnychips]

It's a bit like arriving in a busy cafe if there are few tables left but covered in the previous users' plates.

'Sigh', collect the rubbish, move it onto another table/ put it in the bin, then life carries on as normal for the rest of the meal/journey.

 

[Domh245]

Regular visitor to Leeds. Always get the 19:45 back to London. It usually sits in Platform 6 for 25-30 minutes before departure but not last week. As we were finally allowed onto the platform at around 19:32, the set was just pulling in loaded with passengers. Surprisingly, we departed dead on time at 19:45 but there had obviously been no cleaning done. Tables were littered with newspapers and other debris.
Would you prefer to depart on time on a dirty train - or be delayed 15-20 minutes while the delayed incoming train is cleaned up?

I'm sure that passengers would (for the most part) prefer a clean train - but I'm equally sure that a lot of passengers would prefer a timely arrival. From an operational point of view, you would certainly want an on time train than a clean train otherwise you'd be dealing with missed paths, delay repay, staff running out of hours, etc.

 

[Bodiddly]

This kind of highlights the point that reasonably sane people become ignorant and lazy when travelling on public transport. Where else would people leave rubbish lying at their bahooki's? I know from experience how utterly disgusting some passengers leave the state of our trains. If the service is late coming in why didn't Virgin arrange for a cleaner to meet the train at maybe an earlier stop to do a walk through with bags? There is no excuse for the new passengers who have forked out small fortunes for tickets to sit in the previous passengers filth. Just another example of our I'm all right jack attitude to life.

 

[route:oxford]

This kind of highlights the point that reasonably sane people become ignorant and lazy when travelling on public transport. Where else would people leave rubbish lying at their bahooki's? I know from experience how utterly disgusting some passengers leave the state of our trains. If the service is late coming in why didn't Virgin arrange for a cleaner to meet the train at maybe an earlier stop to do a walk through with bags? There is no excuse for the new passengers who have forked out small fortunes for tickets to sit in the previous passengers filth. Just another example of our I'm all right jack attitude to life.

Perhaps because the customers are more than aware that there are no bins when they leave the trains either?

We've been trained for years that it is considered safer by the railways to just leave rubbish and a little man will be along to collect it.

As to dirty over timekeeping...

Dirty. Connections are always more important.

 

[Johnuk123]

As a regular user of said trains I've had to travel in countless ones that are filthy and it's not getting any better.

 

[hairyhandedfool]

.... If the service is late coming in why didn't Virgin arrange for a cleaner to meet the train at maybe an earlier stop to do a walk through with bags?....

Availability of staff?

 

[Bodiddly]

Perhaps because the customers are more than aware that there are no bins when they leave the trains either...

A lack of bins at major stations is a huge problem with the security of the station always coming first but I still believe if you had bins every 20 metres in a station, lots of passengers would still leave their rubbish on the train.

Availability of staff?

More like poor management of staff. I don't know the staffing numbers for this particular TOC, station etc but I do know it wouldn't take too long to make a clean sweep of the train. There is no excuse.

 

[323235]

Maybe it has got to the stage where staff should walk through trains encouraging people to dispose of their own litter? They could inform people where the nearest bin is and anyone with headphones on can have an at seat announcement.

It might not 100% improve things but it might help. They also empty full bins on the way.

It's probably more effort than it is worth though.

 

[ComUtoR]

Should a fine be introduced for littering ?

 

[route:oxford]

Should a fine be introduced for littering ?

That could be quite difficult. Particularly if you return a newspaper to where someone else left it.

 

[johntea]

If you could have seen the state of the Virgin Atlantic plane I departed at 9am this morning it would be eye opening!

The cleaning staff certainly earn their wage that's for sure!

 

[ComUtoR]

That could be quite difficult. Particularly if you return a newspaper to where someone else left it.

The newspapers are a personal bugbear of mine. Them aside, there is some more serious littering that goes on. Food dumped all over the carriage (happened to me a couple of days ago) and general food waste dumped unceremoniously onto the floor needs to be curtailed.

With onboard CCTV it could be possible to gather evidence of the more blatant littering. Our REO's are more than capable of issuing on the spot fines and gathering evidence using photos and witness reports etc.

Even the threat of a fine (posters, notices etc) can be helpful in the reduction of littering. I'm of an age where we "kept Britain tidy" so I also see the benefit of a "keep the train tidy" campaign too.

I do see the irony of passengers complaining about litter.

 

[hairyhandedfool]

....More like poor management of staff. I don't know the staffing numbers for this particular TOC, station etc but I do know it wouldn't take too long to make a clean sweep of the train. There is no excuse.

VTEC should get on the blower to you straight away, seeing as you know how to do their job better than them without even knowing what resources they have available!:roll:

 

[hounddog]

Should a fine be introduced for littering ?

And who'd enforce it, given the reluctance of 'the railway' to even check tickets properly?

 

[trainophile]

I was 'surprised' the other day to enter a toilet between two VTEC 1st Class coaches after a suited gent left it, to find it had not been flushed, and was, shall we say, rather gross.

I flushed it myself before use, and there was no problem with the mechanism. He had closed the lid, so obviously realised what he was (not) doing before he left.

Some people take antisocial to a new level .

 

[Bodiddly]

VTEC should get on the blower to you straight away, seeing as you know how to do their job better than them without even knowing what resources they have available!:roll:

Probably do a better job than them. How hard is it to get a train emptied of rubbish? As I said, people spend a lot of money to sit on a train, the very least they can have is one that has been emptied of rubbish before they leave the station.
If they don't have the correct resources to clean trains they should never have had the franchise given to them in the first place. I get a bit tired of the not enough staff excuse, every TOC uses it. Not enough staff? Hire more and stop providing crap service.

 

[Domh245]

Hire more and stop providing crap service.

Or, you know, be aware that it is almost 8 O'clock on a Sunday evening (of a Bank Holiday Weekend no less) and that you are probably going to be down a few staff...

 

[IKB]

Passengers want more trains, turnaround times get tighter = less time to clean.

Passengers want trains to depart on time, even if incoming service is late = less time to clean.

There's only so much cleaning TOCs can reasonably do. If people had some respect for their surroundings, carriages wouldn't get so cluttered. There are bins on trains and stations. Before people moan endlessly about rubbish they should look at what they and their fellow passengers are leaving behind, as the rubbish on the trains certainly doesn't belong to the onboard staff or the company.

I travelled on the Caledonian Sleeper recently. As I was getting off at Euston I walked past a cabin that had been occupied by two adults and their young child. It is no exaggeration to say the cabin looked like a bombsight - rubbish and food cartons covered the floor, bin overflowing, bedding strewn all over the place. I don't know how they had the gall to leave the place looking like such a sh*t tip.

Britain in 2016 = everything is someone else's problem to sort out.

 

[ComUtoR]

I get a bit tired of the not enough staff excuse, every TOC uses it. Not enough staff? Hire more and stop providing crap service.

There was a thread recently complaining about extended turn around times where the TOC was cleaning the trains so passengers can board a clean unit.

They really can't win can they.

Oh and if people stopped dropping it on the floor and treating the train with such disrespect then maybe they wouldn't need more and more cleaners to clean the mess passengers leave.

TOC's providing more and more staff is not a solution. If anything it makes it worse.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Quick question. Do VTEC use their own cleaners or is it subbed to another company ? Ours is done by another company under contract.

 

[Darandio]

Quick question. Do VTEC use their own cleaners or is it subbed to another company ? Ours is done by another company under contract.

Pretty certain it was ISS at one point, they also had a cleaner on board walking up and down the aisles.

 

[gimmea50anyday]

The amount of times I have gone through the train asking for rubbish and done a litter pick only to find once everyone is off the state people leave the train. Even when asked "is that rubbish" they say no, then just 5 minutes later they leave it!

Frustrating especially with a 10 min turnaround...

 

[Blindtraveler]

If I had a fiver for every time staff on the 3 VWc services I used last week asked for rubbish Id be ritch

 

[Dent]

There are bins on trains and stations.

Have you ever been to a station or on a train?

Those of us that have will know that many stations have no bins, and those that do have bins have far too few of them. Not all trains have bins either, and again on trains that do have bins there are often not enough of them and they are often too small.

 

[IKB]

Have you ever been to a station or on a train?

Those of us that have will know that many stations have no bins, and those that do have bins have far too few of them. Not all trains have bins either, and again on trains that do have bins there are often not enough of them and they are often too small.

"Those of us who have.....". Phew! Thank goodness you descended from those lofty heights to tell everyone what it's like on trains and stations, we'd never have known!

Bin provision is adequate provide passengers are not unreasonable with the amount of rubbish they generate. Bigger bins are a waste of valuable carriage space. The bins that are provided are emptied when turnaround times permit.