Dave Arquati wrote:
Rupert Candy wrote:

Well, Southern run more inner-suburban services than Thameslink, so I

guess there are more chances for their services to be vandalised.
Either
that or the denizens of Streatham, Wimbledon and Sutton are less
anti-social than those of... erm... Peckham, Dulwich and Crystal
Palace?

I'm not convinced that Streatham, Tooting and Sutton are any more
salubrious than Peckham and Tulse Hill. But then I'm biased towards SE
postcodes =P

SouthEastern claimed (in an exchange of emails some time ago, when
I
was congratulating them on repainting West Dulwich station every
time
it was attacked - so roughly once a week) that the vinyl approach
didn't work, but I notice in their latest newsletter that the
Networker
"refreshment" is going to include fitting anti-scratch vinyls.
Hurrah.
Merry Christmas, everyone!

Refreshment, eh? Is that a fancy term for cleaning?

Yes and no - to be fair, SouthEastern have actually cleaned the
Networkers since they took over from C*nnex (and when it first
happened, the difference was very clear!) It's still not completely
clear what's happening, but I think a small batch (c.30) of 465s are
being properly refurbished with new seats and a First Class (no joke)
section, and will supposedly be limited to the middle-distance routes
(such as Victoria-Ashford semi-fasts, which are already 465-operated).
In addition, they are also planning to "refresh" the rest of the
Networkers - I'm not sure what's involved, but AIUI it will definitely
include vandalproofing the toilets (and presumably making them work)
and fitting anti-scratch film to the windows. New seat covers would be
nice, but that's probably asking too much.

The SET newsletter has mo

http://www.setrains.co.uk/SETrains/C...HowAreWeDoing/

(compare "Networker Refreshment" at the top with "Train Cleaning:
Metro" further down.)

PS Sorry about the knackered quoting - this new version of Google
Groups is awful...