Cleanliness and hygiene in trains On call around the clock

Everybody can identify with the pressing need to avoid washrooms on trains. And yet, a clean lavatory adequately supplied with soft toilet paper, high-quality hand towels and pleasant-smelling soap can positively influence one’s opinion of the entire train ride. Case in point: Deutsche Bahn, the German railways.A study by the environmentally minded German Travel Association (Verkehrsclub Deutschland – VCD) shows that although ride comfort and convenient baggage stowage are key passenger satisfaction metrics, the quality and condition of sanitary areas in particular plays a very important role in ranking the railway experience. 4,000 travelers who used either the high-speed ICE (InterCity Express) trains or the regular InterCity and EuroCity train services were interviewed for the research. “There is a direct correlation between overall satisfaction with the journey and train cleanliness,” explains VCD President Michael Ziesak. “If toilets get a low mark for cleanliness, the entire trip gets a negative review.“ Punctuality and clever logisticsIt takes a complex chain of processes and clever logistics to ensure cleanliness and hygiene on board German trains. And this creates major challenges for contract cleaning service providers. The responsibility for keeping the trains of the Deutsche Bahn – the German railway system – clean rests with the Vehicle Services Department of DB Services. A wholly-owned subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn, DB Services is in charge of interior and exterior cleaning on the trains that serve national and regional destinations. DB Services also takes care of removing graffiti and applying anti-graffiti coatings, implementing environmentally responsible hygiene and waste management services as well as the developing and implementing cleaning concepts for special operations vehicles with time-critical missions. Basic cleaning – not once, but several times a yearDB Services’s vehicle services department meets this huge challenge by breaking it down into cleaning modules that are precisely orchestrated to address specific needs. It starts with a basic cleaning regimen that is repeated several times a year – on all trains, of course. This core program covers professional carpet and upholstery cleaning, graffiti removal and a thorough polishing job inside and out for extra sparkle. Just as important as the thorough basic cleaning program are the overnight clean-ups that are scheduled at over 350 locations across Germany, and of course the ad hoc and in-transit cleaning jobs. Clean as a whistle – day in, day outAs the hustle and bustle of downtown Berlin slowly peters down to a whisper in the wee hours, that’s when things get busy in the eastern suburb of Rummelsburg – specifically at the ICE Service Operations Center. This is where trains come to get a thorough cleaning job and any minor maintenance repairs done. Usually there is a team of 18 people for each ICE train (the Deutsche Bahn’s flagship train generation traveling across the country at speeds up to 330 km/h), and all of its members have their work cut out for them. While one colleague is patiently but determinedly removing chewing gum from a waste bin cover, another is polishing the fittings in the washroom. Everything that needs to be done reflects a set of standards that the supervisors know by heart. They are the ones who set up the teams and distribute the tasks – and make sure the job gets done and done right. The final step is a thorough check by a dedicated quality assurance specialist who then certifies that the train passes muster and is ready to welcome fresh passengers on board. Some cleaning naturally also needs to be done during the day. Just as empty popcorn and soft drink containers need to be fished out from under the seats of any cinema after a show, and a quick pass needs to be made with the vacuum cleaner, you find the same things have to be done on a train on a regular basis – especially on highly frequented routes. Hans-Kurt Koch, DB Services’s shift leader in Rummelsburg, looks up at the board and sees that an ICE inbound from Hamburg will be arriving at 9:35 a.m. He coordinates his team in such a way that there will be seven people waiting on the platform when the train pulls in. They will have 20 minutes to collect all the litter, remove coarse dirt and clean the washrooms. Supervisor Dirk Weller will have decided beforehand who is going to do what in which part of the train, and he ensures that everyone on the task force has the materials and equipment he or she needs for the task at hand. The best gear within easy reachEach team has all the necessary gear and equipment stored in a dedicated wire cart. Microfiber cloths (color-coded, of course), a glass surface cleaner, spatulas and nitrogen sprays for removing chewing gum, scrapers for removing stickers and decals and, naturally, plenty of all-purpose cleaner. There is also a professional setup for cleaning washroom areas. No sooner does the train come to a halt than Dirk Weller checks in at the terminal on the platform. From this point onward, the train cannot leave the service center until he gives the go-ahead and confirms that the train has been cleaned. Toilet paper and paper towels are wheeled over to the waiting train by the pallet, trash bags are carried off and, depending on the need, waste water is pumped out of the train’s tanks. “The quality of our job depends on the quality of the materials and gear we use as well as on 100% certainty that everything we need is available where we need it and when we need it as well as in sufficient quantities,“ explains Jörg Schiemann, Head of Vehicle Operations at DB-Services. “We must be able to depend on these things in order to make up time when a train runs late.” That is also one of the main reasons why, for over two decades now, Deutsche Bahn Services has been working with logistics and provisioning specialist Igefa. Key Account Manager Christel Friedrich has been taking care of business for Deutsche Bahn since day one. “Vehicle cleaning is a very particular subject and the way I see it, our mission is to find solutions that directly mesh gears with our customer’s processes,” she emphasizes. These solutions are the result of a collaborative effort and open relationships with industry partners. Just recently, Deutsche Bahn approached Christel Friedrich about optimizing waste management. She brought together various specialists to jointly come up with a choice of solutions that meet the requirements. “Sometimes this involves very specific equipment which is in fact has to be developed and manufactured expressly for us,” explains Andreas Linke, Head of the Vehicle Services Technical Center at DB Services. His work keeps him in touch with Igefa virtually on a daily basis.Igefa processes more than 20,000 orders from the procurement officers at DB Services on an annual basis. They are initiated electronically via a dedicated webshop application – DB Click Shop – that covers the 1,600 items specified in the frame agreement with central purchasing. “This way, we can be sure that every train gets the same products in the same quality, and our customers can always count on the same high-quality paper towel they have come to expect”, says Linke. Deutsche Bahn’s ‘Corporate Strategy 2020’ sets high goals for the company and it is counting on strong partners to meet the challenge. That is why the company makes it a point to recognize especially engaged and effective suppliers who significantly add value by improving the quality of Deutsche Bahn products and services. In the category ‘General Products and Services,’ Igefa yet again proved a cut above the rest in 2014 by receiving the coveted ‘DB Supplier of the Year Award’ – this time in recognition of outstanding services in the provision of cleaning and hygiene articles and the assortment standardization in compliance with the DB 2020 corporate strategy. “‘Congratulations to Igefa on receiving the Supplier Award 2014 of the Deutsche Bahn!’ It underscores the quality of the products supplied by Igefa as well as the commitment to service of a modern, dependable and strong industry player that is at the core of an enduring partnership with DB Services,” Jörg Schiemann explains, not without a hint of pride. Steffi Reuter | heike.holland@holzmann-medien.de

Cleanliness and hygiene in trains On call around the clock

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