Yarra Trams is utilising the Victorian government’s Working for Victoria scheme to clean trams, depots, and high-volume stops.
The $500 million initiative aims to get Victorian jobseekers into work as the state recovers from coronavirus (COVID-19) mandated lockdowns.
300 jobseekers have been deployed around the Melbourne tram network to boost cleaning and allow commuters and passengers to travel safely, said Minister for Public Transport Melissa Horne.
“Our trams are seeing more cleaning than ever before, and passengers should be assured that we are doing everything we can to keep the network clean.”
Workers are cleaning the network between 7am and 6pm and high patronage stops such as Federation Square and Melbourne University and getting an extra deep clean. On busy corridors such as St Kilda Road, teams will be jumping on and off trams to increase cleaning frequency.
Minister for Jobs, Innovation and Trade Martin Pakula said the scheme benefited both the workers and the community.
“This is creating opportunities for people who have lost their job through no fault of their own and providing a crucial community service into the bargain.”
The extra cleaning is in addition to standard cleaning that occurs at the beginning and end of each service. High touch areas such as handrails and grab straps are cleaned at the beginning of each run.
Minister Horne acknowledged the important role that the extra cleaning was doing.
“I want to thank our hard-working team who are working around the clock cleaning, providing advice to passengers and keeping our transport network moving.”