Ministers under pressure to reduce Marylebone station’s toxic train fumes

PA

Heavily polluting diesel locomotives must be banned from Marylebone station to improve the “unacceptably poor” air quality in the area, ministers were told Wednesday.

The leader of Westminster council and other local authority bosses on Chiltern RailwaysLondon to Birmingham route have written to the Government demanding the immediate axing of the dirtiest Class 68 type of trains.

The station is the last terminus in London only used by diesel trains which contribute to high levels of sooty particulates and toxic N02 fumes in an already notoriously badly polluted area close to the Marylebone Road.

PA Archive

Noise and filthy diesel emissions from the trains has angered local residents who say the locomotives make their lives a misery when they are idling at platforms.

The station is next to St Edward’s Catholic School and close to the Portman Early Childhood Centre for pre-school children and Abingdon House School & College for children with learning difficulties.

In a letter to rail minister Chris Heaton-Harris Westminster leader Rachael Robathan, Birmingham City council leader Ian Ward, and Liz Leffman, leader of the Oxfordshire County Council said the health of residents along the route “is actively threatened” by the trains.

The letter adds: “The current rolling stock is inefficient, damages local air quality, and creates excessive noise – all negatively affecting residents and visitors to our cities. As diesel cars are progressively phased out of public life – and drivers pay progressively more to use them in our city centres – it seems nonsensical that diesel trains are not subject to the same approach.”

It calls for use of the Class 68s to be banned immediately while other diesel multiple unit trains that do not have a separate locomotive to be converted to run on GTL fuel derived from natural gas.

A third demand is for a “firm deadline for the adoption of hybrid technology across all rolling stock, as soon as is practicably possible”.

The letter comes in the final weeks of German owned operator Arriva UK Trains contract to run the Chiltern Railways franchise.

It adds: “The upcoming contract renewal is a prime opportunity to demonstrate Government’s commitment to improved air quality because, if missed, it will leave residents around our stations, as well as passengers on the service itself, exposed to unacceptably poor air quality for years to come.”

Ms Robathan said: “Cleaner air for everyone is something that unites us all as local authority leaders. It doesn’t matter if they are sitting in stations in Birmingham or Marylebone or running through scenic countryside, the end polluting result is the same. With one voice we are saying: it’s time to ditch the diesel.”

Ian Hyde, Chiltern Railways’ engineering and safety director, said: “Chiltern Railways is committed to working with the rail industry to decarbonise our train services and that’s why we have developed hybrid prototypes for our Class 165 and 168 diesel trains. These innovative projects allow our diesel trains to operate in and near our stations on battery power with zero emissions.

“We have an ambition to phase out our trains with the highest environmental impact, though currently they are an important component in providing the capacity required by our customers. We are working hard to develop a fleet plan with the Department for Transport which builds on our commitment to sustainability.”

Westminster council estimates that trains account for 14 per cent of N02 emissions and four per cent of particulates in the area around the station, compared with two per cent of N02 and one per cent of particulates across the borough as a whole.

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