Press release
Hi-tech air purifying totem trials planned for Birmingham New Street
Pioneering new devices will be trialled at Birmingham New Street station to see how much they improve air quality for passengers on platforms.
www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk
Pioneering new devices will be trialled at Birmingham New Street station to see how much they improve air quality for passengers on platforms.
Network Rail will install two upright ‘totems’ later this year to filter pollutants and viruses from the air on platforms 10 and 11.
The purification systems work by taking in air at the bottom before it’s passed through a series of filters with clean air then released at head height.
It’s hoped this will make platforms more pleasant for passengers by reducing the impact from train exhaust fumes.
A recent trial of similar units, made by a company called Pluvo, saw promising improvements on a busy street in London*.
It’s hoped the trials will complement the major multi-million-pound investment into the station’s overhead ventilation system four years ago**.
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The central sections of the units will feature large visual displays which will show passengers how they work and what else Network Rail is doing to provide a cleaner and greener railway.
If the trial on platforms 10 and 11 is successful, the plan is to install more of the devices along other platforms at the station in the future.
*A recent trial of similar outdoor units in London saw a reduction of up to 67% in particulate matter, and 22% in Nitrous Oxides.
**Birmingham New Street uses the latest technology to optimise its ventilation system to remove diesel pollutants from trains. More than 100 sensors and 98 jet fans have been upgraded since 2018 in a £1m investment, leading to reductions of nitrous oxide of up to 45%.
The legal regulations Network Rail meets
Network Rail has a legal duty to comply within the Workplace Exposure Limits (WELs) as defined under COSHH (The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (as amended) regulations as far as reasonably practicable when trains are within its stations.
The 2008 Ambient Air Quality Directive (2008/50/EC) sets legally binding limits and target values for concentrations of major air pollutants. It applies to outdoor ambient air and not within enclosed stations such as New Street. The different limits we are governed by are;
· Long Term NO2 Limit: 8-hour Long term Exposure Limit (LTEL) 0.5 ppm (955 μg/m3)
· NO: 8-hour LTEL 2.0 ppm (2,500 μg/m3)
· Short Term NO2: 15 minute STEL 1.0 ppm (1,910 μg/m3)
One of the requirements under COSHH is to control Diesel Exhaust Emissions at source by local exhaust ventilation, and general ventilation.