• Our booking engine at tickets.railforums.co.uk (powered by TrainSplit) helps support the running of the forum with every ticket purchase! Find out more and ask any questions/give us feedback in this thread!

'Trash Trains'

Status
Not open for further replies.

AdamLukePaul

New Member
Joined
30 May 2015
Messages
2
Something I noticed while visiting New York a couple of years ago is that they have a lot of stock moves which service stations individually for example removing rubbish at the close of the day, with staff loitering on the platform waiting for the 'trash train' to come into the station to remove the days rubbish, which led me to think does this happen over here? It would strike me as odd that with the underground being such a vast network it wouldn't make sense to have rubbish trucks running between stations when in one swoop a train would be able to do it.

Just my thought of the day, feel free to tell me why its a terrible idea!
 
Sponsor Post - registered members do not see these adverts; click here to register, or click here to log in
R

RailUK Forums

Dstock7080

Established Member
Joined
17 Feb 2010
Messages
2,741
Location
West London
LU do not operate “garbage trains” as in New York but have a fleet of owned refuse lorries which visit stations, operated by Distribution Services
 

Attachments

  • F085F502-650F-4892-BC3E-416294252069.jpeg
    F085F502-650F-4892-BC3E-416294252069.jpeg
    180 KB · Views: 140

Mojo

Forum Staff
Staff Member
Administrator
Joined
7 Aug 2005
Messages
20,382
Location
0035
Just my thought of the day, feel free to tell me why its a terrible idea!
Depends where the rubbish generated by the station cleaners is stored during the day. I don’t think I’ve ever been to an under ground station where the bin stores are at platform level - they are usually at street level or ticket hall level and thus would have to be emptied by road vehicles as it would be quite messy and time consuming to move all the bin bags down to the platform to be cleared up when the entire bins can just be scooped up by a bin lorry.
 

theironroad

Established Member
Joined
21 Nov 2014
Messages
3,692
Location
London
LU do not operate “garbage trains” as in New York but have a fleet of owned refuse lorries which visit stations, operated by Distribution Services

Wow. While I've never thought about it, I'm surprised they have their own dedicated and branded garbage trucks. Would have thought that the rubbish would be collected in same way other businesses do.
 

vinnym70

Member
Joined
3 Sep 2017
Messages
177
I assume, to some extent at least, that storage of rubbish in stations underground for a period until collection would also constitute a reasonable fire-risk - especially in deep level stations?
 

matt_world2004

Established Member
Joined
5 Nov 2014
Messages
4,504
They didn't have trash trains but on the quiet late night services. A train guard used to deliver the staff mail and wage slips. This is what a lot of the platform side mailboxes are for.
 

Mawkie

Member
Joined
17 Feb 2016
Messages
418
LU do not operate “garbage trains” as in New York but have a fleet of owned refuse lorries which visit stations, operated by Distribution Services
Are these LUL trucks combine wide? Certainly at the top end of the Northern Line the bins are emptied by Biffa trucks and operatives.
 

Mojo

Forum Staff
Staff Member
Administrator
Joined
7 Aug 2005
Messages
20,382
Location
0035
Are these LUL trucks combine wide? Certainly at the top end of the Northern Line the bins are emptied by Biffa trucks and operatives.
Prior to last summer LUL Vehicle Logistics collected all waste themselves, however a contract was awarded to Biffa for stations in zone 3 and above which started last summer. Zones 1 and 2 are still collected in house.
 

Rogmi

Member
Joined
7 Nov 2013
Messages
89
I think that, certainly on the deep level tube tube lines at least, this would never be allowed due to the potential fire risk. I also assume that it would have to take place after Close Of Traffic when the passenger trains have stopped running, which would mean less time available for engineering works, track walks etc.

On a slightly different note, there used to be trains that ran from Neasden to Croxley Tip landfill (off the Watford Triangle), presumably to take the waste from the LU Neasden Power station.

edit
Just found this:

apparently there was a waste collection trial on the Bakerloo line in 1960, with the waste ending up at Croxley tip
 
Last edited:

Whisky Papa

Member
Joined
8 Aug 2019
Messages
385
Wow. While I've never thought about it, I'm surprised they have their own dedicated and branded garbage trucks. Would have thought that the rubbish would be collected in same way other businesses do.
Given the safety critical nature of the Underground network, I would not want to be at the mercy of commercial trade waste collections:frown:. One station I worked at for Northern did not get a collection for several weeks because the big-name company involved summarily changed their schedule and were repeatedly calling before there were station staff present (the dumpster had to be secured within the premises, it would have finished up on the track otherwise). Despite repeated complaints from Northern the waste company refused to acknowledge they were arriving earlier than contracted, and there was no CCTV to back us up. Eventually I arrived twenty minutes early on bin day and caught them already trying to exit the station, after which the situation was quickly resolved. This may not be the same company currently contracted by Northern, I should add.
 

MP33

Member
Joined
19 Jun 2011
Messages
413
At Bank station the rubbish is stored in a room by the exit that leads to the side of the Mansion House. There is a notice that the exit is closed at hours outside of the tube service. The reason for this is that there was a complaint from a former Lord Mayor about noise. The restaurant the other side of the side street to the Mansion House also has to close early.
 

mark-h

Member
Joined
14 Jan 2015
Messages
374
but have a fleet of owned refuse lorries which visit stations
Running their own services would be inefficient and increase the amount of road traffic compared with using an outside contractor who would be serving nearby premises as well.

I suspect they started their own service to avoid using local authority services when there was little competition.
 

Chris Butler

Member
Joined
23 May 2010
Messages
275
It would strike me as odd that with the underground being such a vast network it wouldn't make sense to have rubbish trucks running between stations when in one swoop a train would be able to do it.

Where would the trains take the trash ? Isn't that the big difference that New York has easier access to landfill via what we'd call the main line while the Underground doesn't?

I don't know for sure that that is true. It's genuinely a question.
 

AdamLukePaul

New Member
Joined
30 May 2015
Messages
2
Where would the trains take the trash ? Isn't that the big difference that New York has easier access to landfill via what we'd call the main line while the Underground doesn't?

I don't know for sure that that is true. It's genuinely a question.
I don't know much about either system really, this was all just a passing thought. The only routes out of London I know of would be heading towards Aylesbury where I know some trash currently goes to.
 

Snow1964

Established Member
Joined
7 Oct 2019
Messages
6,025
Location
West Wiltshire
The Metropolitan Railway used to have one, there used to be a siding at Baker Street where an electric loco took an open truck that collected the rubbish from chutes at Chiltern Court (The Mansion block over the station). There is a photo of it in a Metropolitan Railway book that I have.

Before I moved out of London last summer would occasionally see those Underground liveried bin trucks in Kingston upon Thames (but there isn’t an Underground station in the borough), but I think it did the TfL bus station
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Top