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Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Cleanliness *is* next to Godliness


With all the foot ridin' that goes on, I know many of you wonder like how I do how the trains manage to remain somewhat cleaner than public buses and subway trains.

I sent an email to GO's customer relations inquiring about train cleaning.

Bitches are fierce. Because here's what they do at Willowbrook:

The bi-level coaches are cleaned on a daily, bi-weekly and semi-annual basis in addition to garbage pick-up that happens at outposts and while the train is in service.

Each day the carpets are vacuumed, the seat frames are wiped down and the cushions are spot checked. When necessary, cushions are removed from the coaches and replaced with clean ones. The old cushions are then deep-cleaned. Seats are also removed and shampooed when needed.

Bi-weekly, they clean the inside of the wheelchair ramp storage pockets, the hand detailing around the side and end doors, the stairway walls and the recessed areas around the handrails.

So more than likely folks, the seats you sit on everyday are not the seats someone sat on the day before.

Burning questions? I get them answered.

Does this still justify dirty feet on the seat? No. Trains are cleaned after each day's service. That's a whole day of dirt that fellow riders don't need on their clothes.

11 comments:

TomW said...

I think Willowbrook is the location, not the company...
Any info about how often they clean buses?

(Also, Durham's buses get thoroughly cleaned each night. The main problem is the exterior cannot be washed in sub-zero temperatures - hence why they get so muddy in winter).

C.J. Smith said...

The email reads like Willowbrook was the company but when reading it again: "I called Willowbrook", it could be taken as a location, so noted.

Anonymous said...

No wonder why service is still so poor. All our fare increases go to just keeping the trains somewhat clean (no thanks to the foot riders) that there is no money left to actually improve the service.

Fred's wife said...

An excellent point anonymous!
If people wouldn't be so dirty and rude, then maybe the trains could go every other night for cleaning.

lswgirl13 said...

Excellent investigative reporting!!! I see a job with 60 Minutes in your future.

Dan-1 said...

Willowbrook is GO's main rail maintenance shop, located in Mimico across from the VIA yards.

Most of the LSW riders pass by it everyday.

Anonymous said...

I'm not buying the seat cleaning bit - I'm sure others have been on the same coach and seen the same nasty, stained seat day after day. I once lost an earring in the space between the seat and the wall, and a week later I happened to be on the same coach, same seat and lo - my earring!

Anonymous said...

Foot riders = dirty seats = more frequent cleaning = higher cost to clean = higher ticket prices.

THEREFORE foot riders = higher ticket prices. Dumbasses, start driving if you want to be pigs in your own filth.

Ribert Wightman said...

One thing that GO does well is try to keep the system clean.

Two years ago when they put in the new underpass at Brampton GO station some racist idiots spray painted disgusting slogans in the tunnel on the Saturday of the May 24 weekend. GO paid their contracted cleaning company to work on the Sunday and Monday of the holiday weekend to make sure that all traces were gone before service resumed on Tuesday Morning.

The good news is that one of the Peel cops remembered something a Halton cop told him about racist and pro KKK slogans in Halton. They showed the video tapes to the Halton police who quickly identified the culprits.

You may complain about GO, and I do too, but compared to what happens in the rest of North America they are very good, but they could be better.

harish kalyan said...
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harish kalyan said...
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