Rail & trains
A unit comes into the depot flagged, and it is diagrammed for the morning peak
The incident report comes in with the unit. It is stabled overnight and diagrammed for the morning peak, and nobody wants that diagram broken. The interior is grab poles, tables, vestibules, seat backs and a toilet module, and the honest description of surface cleaning is that it treats what somebody could reach with a cloth in the time available.
In short
Keep a fogger at the depot and treat the whole interior during the existing stabling window. The unit returns to diagram, the cycle is logged, and the treatment reaches everything a cloth cannot.
6 min read ·
The stabling window is the opportunity
Depots already have the one thing this needs: a period where the unit is stationary, empty and accessible. The problem has never been the window, it has been having equipment and trained people inside it.
External providers work to their own diaries and arrive in hours, not minutes. A machine in the depot is available the moment the unit is berthed.
Whole-vehicle, not spot treatment
Fogging treats the volume of the carriage, so it covers the seat frames, the underside of tables, the vestibule joints, the luggage stacks and the toilet module interior in a single cycle rather than a checklist of touchpoints.
With no corrosive residue, passenger information screens, ticket validators and door controls are unaffected. The disinfectant breaks down to water and oxygen.
- Carriages, cabs, vestibules, toilet modules and staff accommodation
- A rolling preventative rota across the fleet, not incident-only treatment
- Dated certificates for franchise, client and safety reporting
- Response in about five minutes rather than 6 to 24 hours
Cost per carriage, not cost per visit
On a lease from £450 per month + VAT with chemical from £15 per litre + VAT, a depot treating units nightly is working at single-figure costs per carriage. A single attended call-out is from £495–£1,095 + VAT.
That is the difference between treating after incidents and treating the fleet on a cycle through the winter.
Frequently asked
- Does the unit need to be indoors?
- No. Treatment is carried out with the vehicle closed; berthing arrangements are confirmed at survey.
- How many carriages can one machine treat per shift?
- One 8kg unit treats up to five rooms or comparable spaces per hour depending on volume, so a multi-car unit is comfortably achievable within a stabling window.
- Can depot cleaning staff be the operators?
- Yes. Depot staff are trained as operators as part of the lease, and only trained, competent staff may operate.
Sources: material published by Sanondaf UK at sanondaf.co.uk (news, research and case studies) and the technical and commercial documentation held by the Shropshire & West Midlands office. Figures are indicative and confirmed at survey. Efficacy is stated as up to 99.9999% reduction.