Greater Anglia invests in cleaning robot for Stansted Airport railway station

Credit: Greater Anglia

UK train operating company Greater Anglia has announced that it has invested in a cleaning robot to help to keep London Stansted Airport’s railway station sanitised and clean in the face of the continuing COVID-19 pandemic.

The company has invested more than £23,000 in an Eco Bot 50; a robotic machine which quickly and efficiently cleans and dries platforms and concourses. The robot is fitted with more than 20 sensors and cameras and can perceive its environment, avoid obstacles and prevent collisions.

The machine is environmentally friendly and recycles water through an in-built filtration system. It does not require any human intervention and it automatically returns to its charging point when the battery is running low.

Simone Bailey, Greater Anglia’s Asset Management Director, said: “We’re really pleased to have this in our cleaning armoury, and it will help to clean large areas, such as concourses and platforms, quickly. Our train presentation and station cleaning teams have been working tirelessly throughout the pandemic, and the new Eco Bot will help to free up a lot of time, so that colleagues can focus on additional sanitisation.”

Alex Orr, Carlisle Cleaning’s Head of Operations, said: “The introduction of the Eco Bot 50 scrubber dryer to our Greater Anglia cleaning contract acts as a fine example of how robotics and humans can work together to achieve improved results. This innovative piece of equipment has allowed for the cleaning of the concourse to take place overnight, providing our operatives additional time to clean high touch point areas, such as the toilets and waiting rooms. We look forward to customers enjoying improved levels of cleanliness within the station and thus an improved customer experience while using the station.”

Greater Anglia stepped up cleaning measures at stations and on trains during 2020 to help customers to stay safe during the pandemic.

Over the past 12 months, the train operator recruited an extra 28 on board cleaners, bringing the total size of the team to 344. The team has also been assisted by 15 catering staff per day, while on board catering has been suspended.

In total, Greater Anglia has spent £600,000 on new cleaning measures, detergents, equipment and staff to keep the interiors of trains as hygienic as possible.

In the last six months, Greater Anglia has commissioned an independent testing company, SOCOTEC, to conduct four different tests once a month on board five randomly-picked trains from different routes at Liverpool Street Station, including tests for COVID-19 – which have all come back negative.