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Refurb & Protection

Refurb & Protection

05/01/2012 | Channel: Rolling Stock, Business Improvement

Chiltern Railways chooses unique protective treatment ChealGoard® for class 165 re-furb programme

The first thing you notice, when you step aboard a Chiltern Railways train at Marylebone, is how clean they are. So clean in fact you'd be forgiven for thinking that the rolling stock was brand new. Each carriage is certainly very plush, with 'Club Class' seating throughout, tables and power sockets, designated mobile-free zones, and double glazed windows. These, together with other features, provide for a very comfortable and quick journey. Of course none of this is possible without a contingent of staff continually working towards keeping Chiltern's trains in tip-top condition.

Since being awarded the franchise in 1996 Chiltern Railways has invested over £400 million, ordering new trains in 1998 and continuing with a rolling programme of improvements that saw them win the Best Train Company award in October 2010.

Some of those carriages that seem 'new' are of course, just that. Many though, have been refurbished to such a high standard that it's hard to tell them apart. Journey aboard a Chiltern train and you are guaranteed a comfortable and relaxing ride.

Most of this is because Chiltern have worked very hard to create the right ambience for its business and leisure travellers - an ambience that includes freedom from worrisome graffiti with its associated undercurrent of anti-social behaviour.

Maintaining your high standards is tricky when you've a problem such as graffiti to tackle on a daily basis. Whereas Banksy has achieved an international reputation for his 'street art', others with less creativity and more anger continue to deface public spaces, trains being a particular favourite. We've all seen the illiterate scrawls on the outside of carriages. Go inside and the toilet compartments are often covered with epithets the like of which you wouldn't tell your mother. Conventional cleaning methods often require the use of hazardous cleaners. How much easier it would be to coat the targeted surfaces with something that resisted contaminants, protected the surface, and revivified the original.

Fortunately, there is a solution. There is a unique product that can be used on rolling stock, both internally and externally, that offers permanent protection for five years plus from graffiti, reduces spend on repainting train toilets, and on graffiti removers. It protects vinyl, creates an easy clean environment, reduces iron dust/brake dust build up, has excellent resistance to chemical agents, and eradicates the need for hazardous graffiti removers. It's called ChelaGuard'" and is offered exclusively by three established brands...Specialist Compliant Coatings Ltd, Chela Ltd and Stewart Signs.

The ChelaGuard'" System...
*Unique patented coating applied by trained specialist applicators (Specialist Compliant Coatings Ltd)
*Clear/transparent coating - Will not alter the natural appearance of the substrate and/or readability/legibility of underlying graphics
*Permanent protection - 5 years plus
*Can be applied to interiors and exteriors
*System tested to industry fire and toxicology standards (Rail)
*System includes a comprehensive warranty
*Scientifics tested

Graffiti Protection
Protect against all types of graffiti, including leather dye
Eradicate shadowing/ghosting
Reduce spend on re-painting train toilets
Protect vinyl from graffiti attack

Creates an easy-clean environment
Substantially reduce graffiti removal times
Eradicate the need for acid based iron-stain removers
Reduce front-end/nose-end soiling
Increase clean-perception and ambience scores

Re-fresh and Refurbishment
Execute internal/external re-fresh projects at minimal cost
Renovate tired paint and other surfaces
Renovate tired vinyl

"Chiltern as part of its franchise agreement with the DfT was required to carry out a refresh of its entire Class 165 fleet consisting of 89 vehicles. One of the key areas to cover by the refresh was to improve the general ambience within the Class 165 fleet which was starting to look tired and dated and was a clear issue for our passengers. One area that was focussed on was refreshing the internal paint work

Unfortunately due to the tight timescales of a 3 day turn around a full respray was not possible and was likely to have limited benefits. Chiltern therefore opted for a compromise of a three stage system of heavy cleaning, local paint repairs and application on all painted surfaces of ChelaGuard"'. The combined system on our fleet has proved highly successful.

The application of the ChelaGuard'" onto the heavy cleaned surfaces has locked in the standard of cleaning ensuring that the surfaces are easier and quicker to clean, provides a resistance to marking and graffiti and the additional gloss to the surfaces has improved the general ambience of our Class 165 fleet making them look brighter and fresher. I would certainly recommend the product in combination with a specialist heavy clean to improve and maintain the appearance of painted surfaces." Chiltern Class 165 Refresh Project Manager

Chela Ltd. 6
8 Bilton Way, Enfield EN3 7NH
T: 0208805 2150
F: 0208443 1868
W: www.chela.co.uk
E: sales@chela.co.uk