By Diamond Rail
During the last flurry of UK Rail Refurbishment projects in 2016-2020, a major change was seen- Flat Cloth seating. This was heavily influenced by European designs and on the face of it, looked modern and different. Many TOCs across the UK specified flat cloth for their refurbishment.
Fast forward six months in service and train presentation teams were reporting difficulty in cleaning this new material, which leaves even water marks despite any fabric protectors applied. The specification to clean the covers calls for dry cleaning only, which is timely, costly and not practical given unit availability challenges faced by the operators. Furthermore, the covers cannot be dry cleaned continuously due to wearing and fire performance degrading and so an added expense is realised due to having to replace covers more often.
In 2019, in the middle of their refurbishment, Northern Trains made the decision to change the specified flat cloth to the more classic moquette. Following business case data and feedback from customers and stakeholders, the numbers and facts stacked up and the change was made.
Andrew Marden, Northern’s Head of Engineering Transformation at the time said: “The idea and business case was controversial at the time, and it was a great decision made by the Northern Engineering team. The refurbished units, now all changed to moquette are performing much better in service and helping with Service Quality and Customer Satisfaction scores across locations.”
Diamond Rail Services supported this change and managed a retrofit programme to ensure the Northern fleet was consistent. Jenny Dempsey, Director at Diamond said: “It is a common discussion I have with many Operator Train Presentation Teams, the challenge to keep flat cloth clean is widespread and more people are having the discussions and taking action to find a solution”.
Most recently in March and Apil 2024, South Western Railway and Diamond Rail Services have completed a trial on seven of their 450 units, changing their flat cloth seat covers to a new and innovative product to tackle this challenge. The material is a Hybrid Moquette and maintains a short cut design keeping the modern look whilst having the properties and weave of a moquette. This design results in the covers being much more resistant to staining and easier to clean in situ.
Charlie Hatcher, Head of Train Presentation at South Western Railway said “When Diamond introduced the possibility of this Hybrid Moquette it seemed the solution that SWR are looking for to address cleaning of our flat cloth seating. We are trialing the performance of this new Floquette, and so far the results are extremely encouraging”.
For more information on Diamond Rail Services visit diamondrail.co.uk.
