Major investment sees the creation of dozens of jobs in Sheffield

TransPennine Express (TPE) has announced an investment of £1.7million to further enhance its existing cleaning programme which will mean 57 new positions, including in Sheffield.

Meanwhile, Northern has launched the search for the next generation black, ethnic minority, female and younger employees, which coincides its plans to recruit more than 160 newly created roles.

At TPE there is a top-notch cleaning programme is already in place, but the additional uplift will see more than 9,400 extra cleaning hours, allowing a dedicated team of Train Presentation Operatives at every TPE station and on each train when it reaches its destination.

This enhancement represents a 70 per cent increase on pre-Covid-19 cleaning.

Along with the recruitment of extra staff, the enhanced programme will see a boost to overnight cleaning plus extended cleaning hours at all TPE stations. Toilet attendants will also be introduced at larger stations.

Kathryn O’Brien, customer experience director for TPE said: “Since the start of the pandemic, our team has been working tremendously hard to keep people safe with increased cleaning in place onboard trains and at stations and a real focus on common touchpoints like handrails, door buttons and ticket vending machines. This added investment will allow us to enhance the level of cleaning we provide giving those travelling on our services extra peace of mind.”

At Northern new jobs for station staff, drivers, conductors, engineering and support functions have been created.   

Northern aims to engage with a new generation of people who have never considered working in rail.

Neil Stephenson, head of learning and talent, said: “Northern has many career opportunities and last year alone we had nearly 54,000 applications for 600 vacancies. As an industry we are keen to deliver a diverse workforce that represents the communities we serve and attract the next generation to rail. Northern has made progress over the past few years and there is more work to do, this is another step towards building an inclusive workforce.”

In these confusing and worrying times, local journalism is more vital than ever. Thanks to eve ryone who helps us ask the questions that matter by taking out a digital subscription or buying a paper. We stand together. Nancy Fielder, editor.