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World first · custom engineering
An idea, a need, and a world first
How a conversation between Eurostar's Head of UK Security and a RedteQ engineer produced the world's first automated COVID disinfection system for security trays.
Through the pandemic, Eurostar kept running from St Pancras International. With traveller safety paramount, security trays on all 11 screening lines were being cleaned by hand — slow, costly, and with each tray used five times in 15 minutes, impossible to do effectively without wrecking throughput.
Eurostar Head of UK Security Matthew Rogers had an idea for an automated tray disinfection system, and called Alan Redpath at RedteQ. We were already using UVC light for disinfection in-house; we researched, prototyped, and built the answer.
99.9% of bacteria, gone
The UVC Portal fits onto existing tray return systems, bathing each returning tray in germicidal UVC at the optimum 254 nm wavelength — the same technology trusted in hospitals and food production — disrupting the DNA/RNA replication of bacteria and viruses. Swab tests before and after installation showed some 99.9% of bacteria removed.
Portals were installed on all 11 of Eurostar's security lines, replacing manual cleaning entirely and returning throughput to its pre-pandemic rate. It needs no additional operator training and is easy to install and maintain.
"Within 10 weeks we had recouped the cost of the portals and the cost savings overall compared to manual cleaning are massive. We were the first to install something like this and ahead of the competition by some eight or nine months."
Why this story matters
It isn't really about UVC. It's about what happens when a customer brings us a problem that doesn't have a product yet. If your operation has one of those, our custom solutions team would love to hear it.