Digitising train presentation and auditing for a leading UK rail operator.
How mpro5 helps Chiltern Railways manage train cleanliness audits, meet Department for Transport reporting requirements and continuously improve passenger standards.
Since 2018, mpro5 has been at the heart of how Chiltern Railways manages train presentation across their fleet. What began as a need for better cleanliness auditing has grown into a fully digital platform that enables Chiltern’s teams to deliver exceptional passenger standards.
By replacing paper records with structured digital workflows, Chiltern can now capture richer data, provide meaningful feedback to their teams and stay ahead of the Department for Transport’s requirements for digital Service Quality Regime (SQR) reporting.
The Challenge
Train Presentation is one of the most demanding aspects of rail operations. With tight turnaround windows, variable staff availability and maintenance tasks frequently taking priority over cleaning, paper records simply couldn’t capture the detail Chiltern needed.
Without a reliable digital system, it was difficult to:
- Capture comprehensive evidence of cleaning activity, such as photos, time stamps and signatures
- Understand how internal cleaning performance would translate to external SQR audit scores
- Provide structured, meaningful feedback to cleaning teams to recognise good work and drive improvement
As the Department for Transport moved to mandate digital SQR reporting, Chiltern needed a solution that would meet regulatory requirements while also delivering real operational value.
“Even without the new DfT requirements, we would still be benefiting from the use of mpro5 for train presentation.”
– Denis O’Sullivan, Train Presentation Manager, Chiltern Railways
THE SOLUTION
mpro5 configured Chiltern’s platform to support two types of audit, conducted directly from smartphones or tablets, giving their Train Presentation teams a fast, structured way to manage cleanliness.
How mpro5 Helped Chiltern Railways:
- General cleaning audits: Managers assess cleaning quality in real time, with data feeding into dynamic dashboards.
- SQR-aligned auditing: A detailed audit mirrors the external government SQR process, giving Chiltern advance insight into how they are likely to be scored, and how they can improve.
- Rich digital evidence: Every audit captures photos, signatures and time stamps, providing far stronger proof of cleaning activity than paper records ever could.
- Automated escalations and SLA monitoring: Any urgent issues identified during an audit are flagged immediately and tracked through to completion.
The results
Since implementing mpro5, Chiltern has transformed the quality of their train presentation operations:
- Comprehensive digital evidence for every clean, meeting and exceeding DfT reporting requirements
- Improved SLA justification backed by reliable, structured audit data
- Real-time dashboards, so urgent issues can be addressed immediately
- Better staff recognition and motivation through evidence-based performance feedback
- A clear competitive advantage through early adoption of digital SQR compliance
Chiltern’s teams can now focus on delivering the best possible passenger experience, while mpro5 ensures that every clean is evidenced, every issue is tracked and every standard is met.
THE IMPACT
The Chiltern Railways and mpro5 partnership shows what digital transformation looks like when it delivers value well beyond regulatory compliance.
By building a platform that supports both internal improvement and external accountability, Chiltern has elevated its train presentation operations and set a new standard for how cleaning performance should be managed in rail.
Together, we’re continuing to raise the bar for passenger experience across the fleet.
