A new anti-viral disinfectant that protects for up to 30 days is being used on London's public transport network, Transport For London (TFL) has said.

The product has been used on "our entire fleet of over 600 Tube trains, all our London Underground stations that are open, Dial-a-Ride fleet, Victoria Coach Station and 33 of our key bus stations," TFL said.

Cleaners fighting the coronavirus pandemic have been applying the disinfectant in two ways, either as a light mist spray from a back-pack for larger areas such as train carriages or as a liquid applied to a cloth.

Image: The operation to clean the network, including buses, took two weeks

The latter method is preferred for touch points and in sections that have electronic equipment, like in train cabs or on lift buttons in stations, or where spraying is considered "not practical".

It has also been used on the Emirates Air Line cable-car which could be used to support the new NHS Nightingale hospital at the ExCel exhibition centre in Docklands, east London.


The new cleaning programme was completed in less than two weeks, TFL said, thanking its cleaning contractor ABM, as well as staff, contractors and its London Underground and Surface Asset Operations teams.

Many of them "worked tirelessly," the transport operator added.