Places which passengers touch regularly, such as escalator handrails, ticket machines and benches were swabbed, and hour-long air samples taken on station concourses at London Euston, Birmingham New Street, Liverpool Lime Street and Manchester Piccadilly stations in January and June of this year.
Between the testing dates, passenger numbers across all four stations rose by 287 per cent, but all lab tests by Imperial College London (ICL) showed no Covid-19 contamination of any surface tested or any airborne particles of the virus in station or on trains.
The conclusions from the independent report, which was commissioned by Network Rail, suggests that the enhanced cleaning methods across the rail industry and widespread wearing of face coverings by passengers are key reasons for the negative results.
Rob Mole, senior programme manager for Network Rail’s Covid response, said: “Station cleaning teams and train staff have made it their mission to keep passengers safe during the pandemic and...