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Hi,
Do Northern ever wash the outside of their trains? I travelled the scenic route from Carlisle to Lancaster but could hardly see out of the windows through the thick layer of grime. If Northern advertise the beauty of the Cumbria Coast scenery, why don’t they wash the windows so we can appreciate it?
You think that's bad. My train from Colico to Sondrio, by Lake Como and through the Italian Alps, had no view at all because the windows were covered in graffiti. The one consolation of being turfed off at Sondrio was that the Rail Replacement Bus to Tirano had a view (but that didn't make up for missing the connection to the Bernina Line)
You think that's bad. My train from Colico to Sondrio, by Lake Como and through the Italian Alps, had no view at all because the windows were covered in graffiti. The one consolation of being turfed off at Sondrio was that the Rail Replacement Bus to Tirano had a view (but that didn't make up for missing the connection to the Bernina Line)
Starting to get to that time of year with the weather. You'll notice that automatic car washes at supermarkets etc are more frequently closed / out of order.
There's generally rules around minimum operating temperatures as the run off can cause ice to form both on the ground and the vehicles, or if it's been particularly wet, drains etc are blocked with falling leaves mud etc and there's too much surface water.
It is an area that TOCs haven't really invested in though. Trains literally drive through what looks like a car wash, but a lot of them are very old or dated, and not particularly well maintained. They get a light acid spray as they go through, but the chemicals have become less effective as environmental regulations change etc.
Starting to get to that time of year with the weather. You'll notice that automatic car washes at supermarkets etc are more frequently closed / out of order.
There's generally rules around minimum operating temperatures as the run off can cause ice to form both on the ground and the vehicles, or if it's been particularly wet, drains etc are blocked with falling leavesz mud etc and there's too much surface water.
We did eventually make it to the Bernina Line, but it was a bit stressful with three further changes instead of just one, and we were very tired and hungry when we eventually got to Zurich.
trenord have always been pretty s**t but with all there new rolling stock purchases the system does seem to be getting better slowly. Revenue protection still appears dire though
It amazes me how few guards check tickets on a barrier less network let alone any kind of repercussion for buying on board
It is an area that TOCs haven't really invested in though. Trains literally drive through what looks like a car wash, but a lot of them are very old or dated, and not particularly well maintained. They get a light acid spray as they go through, but the chemicals have become less effective as environmental regulations change etc.
Further, they scrub the sides of vehicles, but leave the ends, roofs, underframes etc untouched. However, they are regarded as "washed". Some of the end filth nowadays is horrendous.
Does anyone know what's up with the Avanti pendolinos? They look appalling, lots seem to have a tide mark of dirt and odd patches that looks cleaner than others.
Does anyone know what's up with the Avanti pendolinos? They look appalling, lots seem to have a tide mark of dirt and odd patches that looks cleaner than others.
This is generally where there have been patch repairs to the bodysides.
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Train exterior cleaning is a challenging area and a vast number of factors feed into it. The soiling itself is a varying mix of traffic film, carbon deposits, iron deposits, engineering grease from track and point work, plus other random deposits such as blood/debris from bird strikes, then add limescale build up caused by rain and you have a perfect storm of things that require removal. Now account for the fact that periodic deep cleans are still generally completed by hand bashing with brushes, and this is often limited by OLE or 3rd rail restrictions and is always determined by the time allowed (often surprisingly tight deadlines). Then factor in the requirement of a cleaning product to remove this mixed debris without moving too far to the extremes of either alkalinity or acidity neither of which removes everything effectively. Further consider the local environmental considerations around drainage and run off, location of interceptor tanks and so on, plus the safety of the people doing the hand bashing, COSHH, PTS, pay & conditions, stabling locations available for exterior cleaning, and there you have it, that's the challenge of effectively cleaning a train exterior!
I believe the issue with the Cumbrian Coast units is the bodysides only get a wash when they visit their home depot which is Heaton (Newcastle). If they’ve been over Cumbria for a couple of days then they accrue all the dirt and mess mentionned by the OP
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