£1m project aims to ease harmful fumes at station
NEW Street Station is to undergo a £1 million upgrade to tackle toxic fumes from diesel trains, Network Rail has revealed.
The authority has also introduced platform supervisors to have ‘polite conversations’ with train drivers if they see engines have been left on too long – a major factor causing spikes in harmful gases.
It comes after the results of a University of Birmingham study, revealed earlier this year, found that Nitrogen Oxides (NOx) exceeded the recommended 15-minute exposure limit on 26 out of 68 days.
Network Rail briefed Birmingham City Council’s sustainability and transport scrutiny committee on the actions they have taken since.
Azhar Quaiyoom explained there were unique issues with New Street because it was essentially a tunnel underneath a large layer of concrete with a train arriving every 36 seconds.
He said that £1 million was to be spent on installing 97 new sensors detecting nitrogen oxides and carbon dioxide. It is hoped the project will be complete by April.
The 98 fans at New Street have also been adjusted so that they are more reactive to pollutants.
On a typical weekday, 364 trains sit at New Street with their engines running for more than five minutes and 103 of those sit idle for more than 15 minutes.
Studies found there was a high correlation between idling engines and spikes in nitrogen oxides.
In response, the station has now introduced a 12-minute dwell time policy for trains and new supervisors to enforce it. The authority has also held talks with the operators who have moved swiftly to address the problem of air quality.
Virgin has installed auto-shutdown software in 16 out of 20 diesel trains which turns off the engine if it is left idle after eight minutes. Cross Country trains, which has a high number of the heavily-polluting Voyager carriages, has implemented the software on three trains but confirmed they are in talks with Derbybased manufacturer Bombardier to work on further solutions.
Further projects are also pipeline around developing diesel/electric technology.
Mr Quaiyoom concluded that pollutants had reduced since action had in the hybrid been taken but rejected the ‘misconception’ that Network Rail had the power to make widespread changes to the industry.
He said the authority was lobbying the government to effect change through the re-procurement of train operator franchises.
Mr Quaiyoom added: “The action plan is progressing really well, we have had really good engagement with operators and regulators.
“There are multiple factors behind spikes in NOx which is our problem child. Unfortunately we can’t enforce change in terms of trains.
“The old diesel stock is still legal. The existing stock is ten to 20 years old.”
Cllr Josh Jones (Lab, Stockland Green), sitting on the committee, said that the problems around rail pollution would only be solved longterm when electrification was rolled out to wider parts of the country’s rail network.