Southeastern has opened its first Centre of Excellence for Train Presentation at Grove Park depot in south-east London.

The new centre is dedicated to interior repairs and heavy cleaning operations of Southeastern’s rolling stock, and was created through a £1.5 million investment in the existing Grove Park depot.

Two 12-carriage platform-level walkways have been constructed to provide better access to trains for cleaning.

They allow train cleaning operations to be much easier and the cleaning team do not need to lift heavy equipment in and out from ground level.

It is estimated that by using the easy-access walkways, nearly 28 hours per week will be saved during heavy and overnight cleans.

An additional berthing road in the main cleaning shed has been fitted with new power isolation, taking the total to three out of six roads in the shed.

As well as providing more capacity for safer cleaning within the shed, significant improvements have been made to the drainage to remain within water discharge limits.

With Southeastern operating one of the country’s largest train fleets, with just under 400 trains, it is a challenge to keep all trains clean and tidy, while at the same time running nearly 1,800 services per day.

Just under 10,000 vehicle cleans are carried out each week at Grove Park, which accounts for about a quarter of all Southeastern’s train cleaning.

Although trains have been cleaned at Grove Park since 1959, operations at the site have been reorganised to increase capacity to clean more trains. Any essential maintenance is now carried out at Southeastern’s other depots, including at Ashford, Gillingham, Ramsgate, and Slade Green.

With the upgrade of its facilities, there will be a renewed focus on staff training at Grove Park with a more centralised approach to ensure quality.

Every new entrant who joins the train presentation team will be trained to the highest standards, and the skills, expertise and best practices from Grove Park will be rolled out to Southeastern’s other cleaning locations.

Southeastern’s Engineering Director, Mark Johnson said: “We are working to build a better, more reliable, and sustainable railway and providing clean trains in good condition is a key part of that goal. Our first train presentation Centre of Excellence is going to help set new standards, improve customer satisfaction and ultimately, deliver better journeys.

“We also know the importance of having clean, accessible toilets on our trains and I’m really pleased our Mobile Interior Standards Team (MIST) will operate from the centre. They can be deployed rapidly wherever they are needed to fix any problems with our toilets.

“Combined, this new investment and new approach will, over time, help to improve the cleanliness and appearance of our trains right across South East London, Kent and East Sussex.”