Paddington station 'more polluted than the Marylebone Road' thanks to diesel fumes from trains

Pollution capital: Paddington station
Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire
Ramzy Alwakeel9 September 2015

Diesel fumes pumping out of trains at Paddington station leave the transport hub with even filthier air than the country’s most polluted street.

Emissions from engines at peak times exceed European limits within the station building, the report in the journal Environmental Research Letters found.

Levels of pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide and sulphur dioxide linked to lung disease, heart problems and premature deaths – were higher than on the nearby Marylebone Road, found this year to be the most polluted street in the country.

Adam Boies, lead author of the joint US and Cambridge University study, said: "We've looked at several measures of air quality.

"And we've shown that there are a number of times where the nitrogen dioxide concentrations exceed the EU hourly mean limits for outdoor air quality."

But he said a relatively cheap solution might exist. "Many of the trains at Paddington do not have a simple diesel particulate filter, much like you might have on your car," he added. "These would reduce the emissions significantly."

Diesel trains are set to be replaced with electric trains as the Great Western line is electrified.

Patrick Hallgate, Network Rail's managing director for the western route, said: “These trains will not only provide passengers with faster journeys, more seats and a more comfortable travelling experience, but they are also quieter and greener – significantly reducing noise and air pollution for passengers and our thousands of line-side neighbours.”

But First Great Western said the filters "would unfortunately not provide the solution suggested by the authors".

"We know the environment around our trains and stations is very important to our customers, and there are already measures in place to reduce emissions when vehicles are idling in the station," a spokesman said.

"The long-term solution is of course our investment in three new fleets of electric and bi-mode trains to replace the current diesel fleets completely by 2018."

He also appeared to question the scientists' findings, adding the highest recorded pollution levels "centre around catering facility exhausts and a smoking area at the station".

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in