Grenfell Tower Fire: ‘Systemic Failures’ In Fire Brigade’s Response
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
This is the introductory paragraph.
The London Fire Brigade (LFB) has been condemned for “serious shortcomings” and systemic failures in its response to the Grenfell Tower fire, in a report into the 2017 blaze.
I am particularly worried about the stay-put policy.
In the 1950s, I was a member of the Scouts and several times we did exercises with them, where we were taught how to get out of blazing buildings. We were also used as dummy causalities in major incident training.
Certainly, the advice then for a fire was to get out.
Around 1970, I worked on chemical plants for ICI and fire safety was taken very seriously.
I remember being told to know your escape route from where you were working. And get out fast, if anything happened. Not that it did!
One other thing I remember is on the Wilton site, seeing office windows with “Perspex Window – Fine Hazard” stencilled on them. The resaon for this, was that a nearby polythene plant very occasionally caused spectacular arial explosions and glass windows were just too dangerous, as when shattered, they covered those inside with shatds of glass. If you read the story of the Summerland Disaster in August 1973, which killed fifty people.
Wikipedia says this about the building.
The street frontage and part of the roof was clad in Oroglas, a transparent acrylic glass sheeting.
Oroglas is a poly(methyl methacrylate) and is another tradename for the same plastic, which ICI called Perspex.
I’d left ICI, by the time of the Summerland Disaster, but I was still in contact with friends, who worked in Plastics Division, who were responsible for Perspex. One was very critical of the use of Oroglas in the building.
I should also say, that I have lived in a tower block with my family.
From my knowledge, I would not have lived in a building with flammable cladding.
Cromwell Tower in the Barbican is clad in concrete, with a network of tunnels going a couple of floors down from each flat on the thirty-five floors.
After the Grenfell Tower fire, I felt that architects and lawmakers have completely ignored the lessons of history!
Conclusion
There is a need to make sure that we take on board all the lessons of Grenfell, so that the chance of another disaster are minimised.
The New White Hart Lane Station Opens
The new White Hart Lane station opened on Monday and I went along this morning and took these pictures.
Some points about the design.
- The station has three entrances on the stadium side and two on the other.
- Materials used include terracotta pots and weathered steel.
- There is a pedestrian tunnel under the railway for those that don’t want to use the trains.
- There are two sets of stairs to both platforms
- There are lifts to both platforms.
- The station can probably handle twelve-car Class 710 trains if required on match days.
- There are solar panels on the roof.
- The station must have some of the tallest overhead electrification gantries in the UK.
From what one of the project managers told me, it appears that the station was built by cleaning, refurbishing and strengthening the viaduct and then erecting an independent steel frame on either side to form the station.
It looks like a technique that could be used on other stations on viaducts.
It’s certainly a better station with a larger capacity, than the previous one, that I used many times back in the 1960s.
The old station is to be demolished, at some point in the future.
Conclusion
It is an excellent station, that should serve its main function of getting supporters to and from Tottenham Hotspur’s new stadium.
But will the station and the soon-to-arrive new trains have other effects.
- As I said earlier, the design could be repeated with different cladding for other stations on viaducts.
- I believe that good public transport infrastructure tends to calm crime and anti-social behaviour. Only the statistics will give a verdict.
- Will the passenger numbers rise through the station?
- Will the station and the stadium attract some better class retain premises and cafes, as the Emirates has done?
And perhaps most importantly! Tottenham Hotspur now has two new stations to serve the ground! Will this reduce the congestion caused by large crowds?
A Design Crime At West Hampstead Thameslink Station
I almost laughed, when I saw this extension.
It’s the sort of building put up on industrial sites, where planning rules don’t apply.
West Hampstead Station – 29th July 2019
West Hampstead station opened almost fully to the public yesterday.
The only things, that need finishing are the lifts and some small works.
The new station building has an almost 1930s feel about it as if it is inspired by some of the classic stations like Oakwood.
I do like the ziggurat-style steps to the overbridge. This has allowed a wide staircase, that is frilly-shielded from heavy weather, at a busy interchange station
Nothing Seems To Be Happening At Syon Lane Station
I passed through Syon Lane station today and thought I’d have a look at the progress on the step-free access to the station.
This page on the South Western Railway web site describes in detail, the works that will be done.
This is the first paragraph.
From the beginning of April, we’ll be building a new accessible footbridge with a lift at Syon Lane. The project is expected to be completed later this year and is mainly funded by Hounslow Council. Making the station step free will be a real positive for people with limited mobility traveling round the Hounslow Loop, however the delivery of the new bridge will affect the station and the platforms. The station will remain operational throughout the works, but there will be some access changes during the project delivery:
Consider the bit about being finished later this year, then look at these pictures.
It looks like they’ve all packed up and gone home.
Surely, if the bridge is going to be finished this year, workmen should be hard at work building foundations and putting up towers for lifts.
But even the tea-hut has gone.
It appears that the following has been done at the station.
- Create a level step-free route from Syon Lane to the London-bound platform.
- Move the ticket machines and the card readers.
- Run temporary cable ducts, along the back of the platforms.
- Clear some ground behind the fence, where the lift towers might be placed.
- The long platforms have been narrowed, which Network Rail say is to give space for the work.
The 3D Google Map shows the station.
I don’t know when the picture was taken, but it does look that there could have been some ground clearing about halfway along the platform.
What Do I Think Is Happening?
I think, there could be these reasons for the lack of action.
- The project has been delayed for some reason.
- Something very different is happening at Syon Lane station!
Speaking to a couple of travellers at the station today, they had heard nothing and one was looking forward to the bridge.
I have no evidence, but I do have a devious and sometimes theatrical mind.
Are Network Rail conducting an experiment on the good people, who use Syon Lane station?
They have only said this about disruption to passengers.
The station will remain operational throughout the works, but there will be some access changes during the project delivery:
Could Network Rail be bringing in the bridge in a few sections and just lifting them in with a crane?
Look at the 3D Google Map above and note that the station in surrounded by houses and lots of leafy trees, which would make getting bridge sections and the crane into place difficult.
But look at the cross-section of the average footbridge tower or bridge and it is about the same as that of a train.
For this reason, I believe that the bridge components will be brought in on a special train with a large crane.
In Winner Announced In The Network Rail Footbridge Design Ideas Competition, I wrote how the competition was won by this bridge.
It is composed of the following major components.
- Two towers with lifts.
- Two sets of stairs
- A bridge deck.
All components would be built in a factory.
- They would be fully tested before delivery.
- The components would be delivered by train.
- The bridge would then be assembled using a rail mounted crane.
After testing, the Mayor could declare the bridge open
I suspect too, that the only preparation prior to the assembly of the bridge, is to have firm concrete bases for the bridge and a power supply for the lifts.
- The construction of the bases could be done from the railway, so there would be no problems of bringing in the concrete.
- The power supply might not even be needed, if the bridge had solar panels on the roof and a clear battery system.
- It’s all a bit like giant Lego construction, but then the architect of the bridge was Danish!
Could commuters on a Friday night return to a station little different to the one they’ve known for years and then on Monday morning find a working step-free bridge has been erected?
Engineering is the sconce of the possible, whereas politics is dreams of the impossible!
Is This The Future Of Step-Free Bridges?
Obviously not all, but I believe that up to a third of all stations that need a step-free bridge can use a bridge of this type.
But the station upgrade to step-free application is just one of several.
- New stations.
- Step-free bridges over busy roads, rivers or canals.
- Replacement of dangerous light-controlled road crossings.
The design could also be incorporated into other buildings.
Conclusion
Something different could be happening at Syon Lane station.
Is This One Of The Best Platform Access Routes In Europe?
I have been to some large and grand stations in Europe like Amsterdam Centraal, Berlin Hbf, Leizig Hbf and Milan Centrale.
But I have yet to visit a station, where a subsidiary group of platforms have such a spectacular two-level approach.
I took these pictures as I walked from the main concourse to the underground gates, leading to the escalators, that take passengers to and from the middle of the platforms.
It should be noted, that the concourse ends of the platforms can also be accessed using a bridge from the concourse. This bridge can be seen over the orchestra pit.
This wide tunnel has been designed to handle just five platforms 20-24.
This article on Rail Engineer is entitled New Platforms At London Waterloo.
The articles states these facts and objectives.
- The platforms will be shortened by a hundred metres.
- Each platform will be able to handle a twelve-car train.
South Western Railway‘s new ten-car Class 701 trains have a capacity of 600 passengers.
As the platforms will handle twenty tph,, this means that a total of 12,000 passengers could arrive in every peak hour, but with two gate-lines on separate levels and various routes to either the Underground or walking out of the station, it appears to be designed to cope.
The access would even cope if because of some important event there was a substantial amount of travellers going the opposite way to the commuters.
In the future, the arrangement would mean that each platform could be divided into two; 20A and 20B etc.
- Passengers for the far train could use both routes, but would probably use the tunnel.
- Passengers for the near train, would probably use the bridge.
Busby Berkeley has been hired to get the choreography right.
Conclusion
Very large traveller flows have met their Waterloo.
Hanwell Station – 19th April 2019
These pictures show Hanwell station.
Hanwell station will be unlike any other station on Crossrail.
- It is Grade II Listed.
- It doesn’t have a high passenger usage.
- Platforms will be too short for the Class 345 trains and selected door opening will be used.
- The stairs up to the platforms must be some of the most Victorian in any station.
- To complete the station, two lifts are to be installed on the Crossrail platforms.
I do wonder if it could become a tourist attraction for those interests in modern metros and Victorian architecture.
Crossrail To Reading In December 2019
As current rumours are that Crossrail will open in December to Reading, it looks like the station will be ready in all its Victorian splendour..
It is planned that Hanwell station will have a train every ten minutes.
Luton Station To Go Step-Free
This document on the Government web site is entitled Access for All: 73 Stations Set To Benefit From Additional Funding.
Luton station is on the list.
These pictures show the station.
Without doubt, this is the worst station, I’ve found so far in an important town, that is to be made step-free.
There is nothing of any architectural merit at all in this station.
Will Abellio East Midlands Railway Improve Their Service To Luton?
Currently, Luton station has the following.
- Full electrification, which is being upgraded to a high standard for 125 mph running.
- Platforms long enough to accommodate Thameslink’s 242 metre long twelve-car Class 700 trains.
- The Class 700 trains are already fitted for working with digital signalling and this will be added to all trains.
It certainly treats trains better than it does passengers.
From December 2020, the following trains will run through Luton station.
- Two trains per hour (tph) to/from Corby, which will be 240 metre long twelve-car electric trains in the Peak. Why not in the Off Peak?
- Two tph to/from Leicester and Nottingham
- Two tph to/from Leicester, Derby, Chesterfield and Sheffield
At the present time, only the single Corby service stops at Luton.
From 2022, East Midlands Railway will be running new bi-mode trains through the station.
- For compatibility with the electric trains to Corby and to make full use of long platforms, I suspect that these trains could be up to 240 metres long.
- They will have a larger capacity, than the current Class 222 trains.
- They will effectively be electric trains between London and Market Harborough, where the electrification ends.
- They will have fast acceleration and smooth regenerative braking, because of the electric power.
- They could have step-across access between train and platform.
As Luton station is electrified and has long platforms, these trains will be able to stop at Luton (and Luton Airport Parkway) in minutes.
Network Rail intend to make Luton station step-free by 2024.
The improved access will give easier connections between the expresses and Thameslink, and entry/exit to the station.
I can see several trains per hour stopping at Luton.
Conclusion
If money was no object, this station should be totally rebuilt.
But money is an object, so the architects will be struggling.
But by 2024 at the latest and possibly a couple of years earlier Luton station could be sorted for passengers and handling well upwards of a dozen 240 metre long high capacity trains in every hour.
Battersea Park Station To Go Step-Free
This document on the Government web site is entitled Access for All: 73 Stations Set To Benefit From Additional Funding.
Battersea Park station is on the list.
These pictures show the station.
This 3D Google Map shows the station.
It’s a bit different to the average commuter station.
Installing Step-Free Access
This will be a challenging station to install step-free access.
- The station is Grade II Listed.
- There are four platforms
- Platform 2/3 is reasonably wide, but Platform 4/5 is narrow.
- The station handles ten trains per hour (tph) in both directions.
- In 2017-18, the station handled nearly two million passengers.
- The station will have an out-of-station interchange with the new Battersea Power Station station, when that station opens.
As the pictures show, the entrance hall has been tastefully restored in the last few years.
Surely, only a masochist would work on installing lifts in this station.
Hackney Downs Station To Go Step-Free
This document on the Government web site is entitled Access for All: 73 Stations Set To Benefit From Additional Funding.
Hackney Downs station, which I use regularly is on the list.
In Is Hackney Downs Station A Suitable Case For Treatment?, I mused at the possibilities for the station, after a chance meeting with an architect, surveyor or planner from Transport for London at the station, who had just had a look behind the locked doors at the station.
Let’s hope that if there is something worth preserving behind those forbidding brick walls!
Other than the obvious step-free access, my ideas for the station would include.
- Better use of the rooms on the platforms.
- A couple of enclosed waiting rooms.
- Improved bus stop locations.
- A light-controlled crossing outside the station.
But the biggest opportunities would surely be opened up, if London Overground’s services were reorganised.
At present, the station has the following services in trains per hour (tph)
- Liverpool Street and Chesthunt – two tph
- Liverpool Street and Chingford – four tph
- Liverpool Street and Enfield Town – two tph
Plans also exist to increase the Enfield Town services to four tph.
These are not overly high frequency services compared to some services in London.
In Could London Overground Extend To Hertford East Station?, I speculated on a rumour that Hertford East services would be given to the London Overground.
If this does happen, I believe that some local services would have to terminate in the High Meads Loop under the Eastfield shopping centre at Stratford.
In the other post I say this.
If as I proposed the following trains run through Seven Sisters station.
- Two tph between Liverpool Street and Cheshunt/Broxbourne or Hertford East.
- Two tph between Stratford and Cheshunt/Broxbourne or Hertford East.
- Two tph between Liverpool Street and Enfield Town.
- Two tph between Stratford and Enfield Town.
This means that Hackney Downs would have the following services.
- Two tph between Liverpool Street and Cheshunt/Broxbourne or Hertford East.
- Two tph between Liverpool Street and Enfield Town.
- Four tph between Liverpool Street and Chingford.
Would it not be more efficient, if all of these services used the slow tracks into Liverpool Street?
This would give the expresses exclusive use of the fast lines into Liverpool Street.
It’s probably a naive analysis, but I believe services at Hackney Downs station could well include regular services between Liverpool Street and Broxbourne/Hertford East.
Conclusion
Step-free access at Hackney Downs station could be part of a package, that sees extra services and destinations added to the station.
