ON
TOUR

THE CLEAN DOZEN

In the early hours of each morning, 12 Overground trains pull into Wembley sidings ready for their daily wash and brush up. On hand, ready with mops, sprays and cloths, is a team of night shift traincare colleagues.

The Wembley facility is one of five berthing yards, along with other station and sidings where trains receive their nightly clean – litter pick, floor sweep and mop, seat vacuum and window clean.

Selected trains also receive a 30-day deep clean where two or three of the crew use a heavy-duty floor cleaning machine to ensure a more thorough scrub.

As well as the interior cleaning, the team also checks for damage or hazards, while any graffiti is recorded and reported to a specialist cleaner.

Each train takes two to three hours to make spick and span, depending on the level of cleanness. It’s an operation that calls for experience, organisation and, as team member Emmanuel Koranteng explains, a plan of attack.

“I start with the windows, working all the way down one side and then back the other way – that’s my system,” he says.

Of course, working at night is not everyone’s cup of cocoa. But, with decades of experience between them, the Wembley traincare crew are more than used to it.

Traincare colleague Damion Boyd adds: “Most of us have been here a while and we get on well. We also share the site with engineers from Alstom – it feels like one big team.”

This mix of team spirit and professionalism makes for a job well done.

“Everyone here understands their role,” says traincare supervisor Carl Burrell. “We know the public will notice if we don’t do a good job, so it’s always satisfying when we look back and see a train that’s clean and ready for the next day’s customers.”

BOX CLEVER
Emmanuel Koranteng is not only a dab hand with a mop and bucket – he’s pretty useful with his feet. A talented kickboxer, Emmanuel won the national championships in 1999 when he lived in Italy.

GUM CONTROL

Traincare colleagues at Wembley all agree on the stickiest situation they face – chewing gum on seats. Removing it calls for a methodical technique.

“There’s spray we use for gum, but you have to take care to get it out without damaging the fabric,” says team member Damion Boyd.

FANTASTIC FILHO

It’s not only Overground passengers who can thank Wembley traincare’s Filho Odonel for his hard work and dedication.

Across South America, countless education and welfare projects have benefited from 30 years of Filho’s tireless charity work.

As well as organising collections of clothes and toys, Filho pays out of his own pocket to support schemes that help feed and educate disadvantaged children and provide care for older people.

He also regularly travels to his native Brazil, where he helps at schools and care centres. He even collects food to give to children sleeping rough on city streets.

Filho, who spoke about his charity work at a recent leadership conference, was inspired to help others, having been through hardship as a young boy in Brazil.

“I was very poor as a child and for a time I lived on the street, so I know what that’s like. I was very lucky that I was given a chance to escape that by earning some money washing cars. Now I can give others that same chance.”