Roberts lends A clean getaway Mike a helping hand… Last May I got a phone call from a director at Northern, checking how I was doing during the lockdown. The call lasted a while and I asked, “Is there anything I can do to help you guys…is there anything you need?” We’d been told that volunteering outside our role was acceptable during furlough and a week later I ended up joining the Train Presentation Teams on Merseyside. Each time a train arrives at its final station it needs cleaning before it heads out again, and a team of dedicated staff worked to make sure the trains were clean and safe. Cleaners, until 2020, were often the forgotten part of the railway family. Equipped with materials for touchpoints, cabs, toilets, tables, chairs and handrails it was so good to see an amazing team of Northern staff working to keep the railway
running safely. I spent several weeks with the Southport team working front to back to cover the whole train in the time it spends there. Rebecca, my wife, asked me after a while, “why are you never that quick to volunteer to clean at home?” and I genuinely don’t know. But I realised that, in a very practical way, to the Train Presentation Teams, it was offering Support on life’s journey. When travel becomes possible again and you get on a train, remember that a team worked overnight to clean the train. The train gets cleaned, litter picked and sanitised during the day, and there’s a host of Train Presentation Operatives working to make sure your journey is as safe as it can be. Mike Roberts is a Railway Mission Chaplain for the North West
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