Published on: Monday, 17 August 2020
Last updated: Monday, 17 August 2020
The managing director of Greater Anglia is welcoming passengers back to the railway and assuring them that the company is doing everything possible to keep them safe from Covid-19 while travelling.
Greater Anglia managing director Jamie Burles speaks to customers in a video just released by the company.
In the video, he says everyone is now able to travel by train again: "It’s now an option again to travel by train, so here at Greater Anglia, we’re very much looking forward to seeing you in the near future.”
He then outlines the many measures Greater Anglia is taking to keep rail travellers safe from Covid-19.
He explains that the company is now operating a near normal timetable, with more frequent trains, so there is plenty of capacity which helps with social distancing.
A special page on the website shows how busy services are so that passengers can choose to travel at less busy times to maximise social distancing.
“We’ve also been ploughing a huge amount of extra resource into an enhanced cleaning regime as well,” he says.
Greater Anglia has stepped up cleaning at stations and on trains, paying particular attention to high touch areas such as door buttons, grab rails and handles.
The company is recruiting new cleaning staff, as well as using an arsenal of powerful new equipment, including vacuum cleaners that clean the air as well as floors and upholstery, fogging guns to disinfect all carriages and testing equipment to check the company’s cleaning regime is as effective as possible.
Free hand sanitiser points are also available at all staffed stations – with a donation made to charity each time they are used.
In the video, the managing director reminds people that face coverings must be worn on stations and trains, with some exemptions, and that people refusing to wear them could be fined £100, before putting on his own face covering and entering the station.
“You will all be aware by now that you must wear a face covering when on the station and when on the train, so it’s really important that you do this, because if we wear those face coverings, we will keep each other safe,” he says.
In the station, Jamie talks about the measures the company has taken to make social distancing easier for customers, ranging from one-way systems, floor markings, clear plastic screens and closing some facilities.
He points to recently installed screens between ticket machines to offer further protection, and in the background a member of staff can be seen cleaning the ticket machines’ buttons and touch screens.
“But remember, you could go one step further, and spend even less time at the station by buying your ticket in advance via the website or via the app,” says Jamie.
Addressing passengers who need assistance, Jamie reassures them that it is still available, but may look a bit different as staff follow extra hygiene rules due to the pandemic.
Jamie concludes the video by saying: “Through all of these small steps, we can make sure that we’re all going to travel safely this summer.”
More about Greater Anglia’s Safer Travel Pledge is also available on our website.