RSSB2624 - T1122 Research into Air Quality in Enclosed Stations

All tenderers are advised to read the document titled "Procurement Explanatory Note" for this procurement exercise. -- Please be advise that the tender date for this procurement exercise has been extended to Friday 15th December -- Dangerous fumes are the result of diesel combustion from trains, goods vehicles and cars.

Most non-electric trains are powered by diesel, causing significant levels of diesel fumes within enclosed areas such as stations.

The major component by mass are gases, particularly carbon dioxide (CO2), carbon monoxide (CO) and various nitrous oxides (NOx) and aldehydes.

The elemental carbon (EC) and organic carbon (OC) 'soot' content in the DEEEs varies from 60% to 80% depending on the fuel used and the type and condition of engine.

It is not well understood what level of contribution diesel trains are making to levels of air pollutants, and further whether there is a specific issue with how these accumulate and disperse in enclosed areas, such as rail stations.

The people most affected, will be rail staff and others working at stations, including train drivers, rather than passengers and other members of the public.

This is because of the length of time the different groups spend at stations.

However, good occupational and public health are both important considerations.

This project aims to look at air quality levels in enclosed, and / or terminal stations and show how they disperse within a station.

This includes combustible particulates that result from diesel train emissions as well as non-combustible particulates that result from vehicle-track and vehicle-power transmission interactions .

This project will also provide industry with operational guidance, including possible changes to ventilation systems to make improvements.

A related study currently being completed by Birmingham University, in conjunction with Network Rail, at Birmingham New Street (BNS) aims to measure diesel fume emissions in various areas of the station to model the air quality.

Accompanying this specification, Appendix 1 provides a summary of the BNS study.

It has been agreed by Network Rail that a copy of this study can be shared with the selected supplier, once in contract.

This project has one work package which is likely to be delivered over several phases: Work Package: Modelling Air Quality in Enclosed Stations research project that: - Looks at levels of combustible and non-combustible particulates in at least 2 of the following stations: Euston, Kings Cross, Edinburgh Waverley - Measures levels of particulates over time - Looks at the dispersion of particulates - Compares to baseline levels in the city, to quantify differences - Looks at how airflow/ventilation effects the particulate levels - Sets out the methodology to be adopted when undertaking similar studies of concentration levels at other stations.