Nottingham fire
Behind the scenes where a blaze at the station halted trains and caused millions of pounds worth of damage.
STATION staff and emergency services have been praised for their “brilliant” response to a significant fire that closed Nottingham station on January 12.
The blaze, which was discovered in ladies’ toilets on the station’s southern concourse at approximately 0625, prompted the full evacuation of the station before it spread rapidly into the roof space and an adjacent ticket office and footbridge.
Sixty firefighters from eight fire stations took more than 12 hours to extinguish the fire, which is being treated as arson by investigating officers from the British Transport Police.
Network Rail’s London North Eastern and East Midlands Route Managing Director Rob McIntosh paid tribute to the first responders on the scene, including police, firefighters, and staff from Network Rail (which owns the station) and station operator East Midlands Trains.
He said their actions not only helped to ensure that there was no loss of life or injury, but also that contingency plans were rapidly implemented to cancel or redirect services until the station (used by almost 7.5 million passengers a year) could be safely reopened the following day.
Trams and buses were also temporarily suspended, as surrounding roads were closed to all traffic.
McIntosh exclusively told RAIL: “There are lots of phone calls you dread to receive as a Route MD, and that was certainly one of them. We didn’t expect the fire to take hold in the way it did, but the good news was that the response was phenomenal.
“My first thoughts were for the welfare of staff and passengers, but I have a very capable team who stepped up to the mark alongside colleagues from EMT. I have enormous pride in the whole team [at Nottingham], who dealt with it swiftly and brilliantly.”
Five of the station’s seven platforms reopened at 0445 the next day, after structural engineers deemed the building to be safe.
However, reduced facilities included no lifts or toilets, due to damage to the station’s electrical and water supplies.
Fire damage to the station’s ticket office and communications room also meant that information screens did not work, and that EMT staff were using portable ticket machines.
As this issue of RAIL went to press, portable toilets remained on site, while EMT was working with suppliers to reopen food outlets.
All platforms and the ticket office have now reopened, although the most significantly fire-damaged areas of the station remain closed off to the public. These include the main footbridge span between Platforms 6 and 7 and part of the southern concourse, which was opened in 2014 as part of a £60 million redevelopment of the Grade 2-listed station, and which won a National Rail Award in 2016 ( RAIL 811).
McIntosh confirmed to RAIL that the cost of the damage will run into “millions” of pounds, and that NR’s focus has now shifted towards assisting the criminal investigation, commencing repair work and reviewing fire prevention measures.
He added: “There are a number of levels to the investigation now - the BTP’s criminal investigation and a review taking place between myself and [EMT Managing Director] Jake Kelly into the incident, and how we could improve the response should it ever happen again. We will also certainly be looking at what can be done to prevent a fire taking hold like that again.
“Parts of the station remained a scene of crime for several days, but engineers now have full access to the most critical areas. It’s too early to say how much it will cost to repair, but nothing is cheap on the railways and substantial parts of the footbridge will need rebuilding, which I’m sure will run into millions [of pounds].”
Following media reports that there were no sprinklers in the southern concourse, which (although not a legal requirement) may have helped contain the fire, Bryn Coleman, the Incident Commander at the scene, said: “Firefighters worked throughout the day to tackle the fire and managed to get it fully extinguished by around 5pm.
“Our fire protection team will be working with Network Rail’s engineers to look at the build, to look at the building construction and how it’s all been put together, to try and prevent future fires of this nature.”