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ATRAIN company has responded to a passenger’s concerns over the use of ticket machines during the coronavirus crisis.

Key worker Adam Clancy, 31, says he saw machines with visible fingerprints left on touch screens on more than one occasion at both Stockport station and his home station of Handforth.

Mr Clancy, who is still commuting to Stockport daily as he works for a company there that produces sanitising products, said: “There might be only two or three people in the station but it will just take one person to have this virus to pass it on. Anyone could potentially have it.

“I didn’t want to use the touchscreens - I know what the government has told us, I didn’t have any gloves and I wasn’t putting myself at risk.”

Avanti which operates machines at Stockport station said it has introduced enhanced cleaning regimes, focusing on all touch points at stations and using anti-viral products to help reduce the spread of coronavirus, while Northern Rail which operates Handforth station said it was doing all it could to keep equipment as clean as possible.

Mr Clancy said that he initially raised his concerns with station staff at Handforth last Monday (30th March) at around 7.20am and was told he could instead purchase a ticket on arrival in Stockport if he did not feel comfortable touching the available machines - however he was also concerned about using the ticket terminals at Stockport when he arrived at around 7.30am - as he also said he saw fingerprints left on touch screens there.

Station staff reassured him that touchscreens and chip and pin pads were being sanitised regularly.

He added that he felt especially conscious of the importance of cleanliness on his commute due to the nature of his work.

A spokesperson for Avanti West Coast said: “We completely refute these allegations. Our station teams and cleaners are following enhanced cleaning regimes, focusing on all touch points at stations and using anti-viral products to help reduce the spread of coronavirus to protect customers and colleagues alike. Our frontline teams are continuing to work extremely hard in these circumstances to keep our customers – key workers who have to make essential journeys – safe, as we work together to try and combat Covid-19.”

It was added Avanti services have gone cashless and are encouraging contactless payment, and cleaning procedures have been intensified onboard its trains.

A spokesperson for Northern said: “The safety of our customers and staff is paramount and we are doing all we can, across our entire network, to keep trains, stations and equipment as clean as possible.

“We have around 600 members of staff dedicated to cleaning our trains and stations and, during this unprecedented health emergency, they are all paying extra attention to surfaces that people touch more often.”