{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,12]],"date-time":"2025-11-12T06:29:00Z","timestamp":1762928940937,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":26,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,1,5]],"date-time":"2022-01-05T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1641340800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJERPH"],"abstract":"<jats:p>High NO2 concentrations (long term average of 383 \u00b5g\/m3 in 2016\/2017) recorded at Birmingham New Street railway station have resulted in the upgrade of the bi-directional fan system to aid wind dispersion within the enclosed platform environment. This paper attempts to examine how successful this intervention has been in improving air quality for both passengers and workers within the station. New air pollution data in 2020 has enabled comparisons to the 2016\/2017 monitoring campaign revealing a 23\u201342% decrease in measured NO2 concentrations. The new levels of NO2 are below the Occupational Health standards but still well above the EU Public Health Standards. This reduction, together with a substantial decrease (up to 81%) in measured Particulate Matter (PM) concentrations, can most likely be attributed to the new fan system effectiveness. Carbon Monoxide levels were well below Occupational and Public Health Standards at all times. The COVID-19 pandemic \u201cinitial lockdown\u201d period has also allowed an insight into the resultant air quality at lower rail-traffic intensities, which produced a further reduction in air pollutants, to roughly half the pre-lockdown concentrations. This study shows the scope of improvement that can be achieved through an engineering solution implemented to improve the ventilation system of an enclosed railway station. Further reduction in air pollution would require additional approaches, such as the removal of diesel engine exhaust emissions via the adoption of electric or diesel-electric hybrid powered services.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph19010575","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,1,6]],"date-time":"2022-01-06T03:41:32Z","timestamp":1641440492000},"page":"575","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":4,"title":["Intervention of an Upgraded Ventilation System and Effects of the COVID-19 Lockdown on Air Quality at Birmingham New Street Railway Station"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"19","author":[{"given":"Matt","family":"Clegg","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"John Edward","family":"Thornes","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK"},{"name":"Climate Change and Health Group, Radiation, Chemical and Environmental Hazards, United Kingdom Health Security Agency, Chilton, Oxford OX11 0RQ, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Debasree","family":"Banerjee","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Emission Solutions Ltd. (EMSOL), London SEI 0NZ, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Christina","family":"Mitsakou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Climate Change and Health Group, Radiation, Chemical and Environmental Hazards, United Kingdom Health Security Agency, Chilton, Oxford OX11 0RQ, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Azhar","family":"Quaiyoom","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"QSustain Ltd., Stockport SK7 6BG, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7096-9744","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Juana Maria","family":"Delgado-Saborit","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK"},{"name":"School of Health Science, Universitat Jaume I, 12071 Castellon, Spain"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Revati","family":"Phalkey","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Climate Change and Health Group, Radiation, Chemical and Environmental Hazards, United Kingdom Health Security Agency, Chilton, Oxford OX11 0RQ, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,1,5]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"Office for Rail and Road (ORR) (2017). Passenger Rail Usage: 2016\u20132017 Q4 Statistical Release, ORR."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1864","DOI":"10.1177\/0954409717752180","article-title":"Evaluation of air quality at the Birmingham New Street Railway Station","volume":"232","author":"Hickman","year":"2018","journal-title":"Proc. Inst. Mech. Eng. Part F J. Rail Rapid Transit."},{"key":"ref_3","unstructured":"Network Rail (2015). Birmingham New Street Station Opens to Passengers, Network Rail."},{"key":"ref_4","unstructured":"Network Rail (2016). Record Number of People Use Birmingham New Street as Christmas Market Gets Underway, Network Rail."},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"094012","DOI":"10.1088\/1748-9326\/10\/9\/094012","article-title":"Air quality evaluation of London Paddington train station","volume":"10","author":"Chong","year":"2015","journal-title":"Environ. Res. Lett."},{"key":"ref_6","first-page":"99","article-title":"Air quality in enclosed railway stations","volume":"170","author":"Thornes","year":"2017","journal-title":"Proc. Inst. Civ. Eng.-Transp."},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"129","DOI":"10.1002\/wea.2358","article-title":"Variations of temperature, wind speed and humidity within Birmingham New Street Station during hot weather","volume":"70","author":"Thornes","year":"2015","journal-title":"Weather"},{"key":"ref_8","first-page":"1","article-title":"Proposed interventions to reduce noxious air pollution at Birmingham New Street station","volume":"174","author":"Thornes","year":"2021","journal-title":"Proc. Inst. Civ. Eng.-Transp."},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"114284","DOI":"10.1016\/j.envpol.2020.114284","article-title":"Air quality in Enclosed Railway Stations: Quantifying the impact of diesel trains through deployment of multi-site measurement and random forest modelling","volume":"262","author":"Font","year":"2020","journal-title":"Environ. Pollut."},{"key":"ref_10","unstructured":"Birmingham City Council (2020, July 15). Reserved Matters Design & Access Statement; Birmingham New Street Gateway Project, Available online: https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20110815184138\/http:\/\/eplanning.birmingham.gov.uk\/Northgate\/DocumentExplorer\/documentstream\/documentstream.aspx?name=public%3A0901487a80a71516.pdf&unique=387688&type=eplprod_DC_PLANAPP."},{"key":"ref_11","unstructured":"Department for Transport (DfT) (2020, July 15). Birmingham, West Midlands AADF.csv Dataset, Available online: https:\/\/www.dft.gov.uk\/traffic-counts."},{"key":"ref_12","unstructured":"Emission Solutions Ltd. (EMSOL) (2020, July 15). Praxis 10 Second Interval Measurements between February and June 2020 for NO2, CO, PM1, PM2.5 and PM10. Available online: https:\/\/emsol.io."},{"key":"ref_13","unstructured":"Alphasense Ltd (2020, August 03). Sensor Technical Datasheets. Available online: http:\/\/www.alphasense.com\/index.php\/air\/downloads\/."},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1553","DOI":"10.1021\/acssensors.7b00620","article-title":"Amperometric gas sensors as a low-cost emerging technology platform for air quality monitoring applications: A review","volume":"2","author":"Baron","year":"2017","journal-title":"ACS Sens."},{"key":"ref_15","unstructured":"Baron, R., and Beloff, B. (2020, August 05). Obtaining High Quality Data from Low-Cost Air Monitoring Systems [Webinar]. Available online: https:\/\/drive.google.com\/drive\/folders\/12wGhpmPcDNl8iK-UFyW-zUcMGiGtGQj3."},{"key":"ref_16","unstructured":"HMG (Her Majesty\u2019s Government) (2021, May 07). The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations, Available online: http:\/\/www.legislation.gov.uk\/uksi\/2002\/2677\/contents\/made."},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"221","DOI":"10.1080\/02786829608965393","article-title":"Elemental carbon-based method for monitoring occupational exposures to particulate diesel exhaust","volume":"25","author":"Birch","year":"1996","journal-title":"Aerosol Sci. Technol."},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1227","DOI":"10.1016\/j.rser.2017.05.133","article-title":"Particulate matter formation and its control methodologies for diesel engine: A comprehensive review","volume":"80","author":"Mohankumar","year":"2017","journal-title":"Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev."},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"143","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1600-0668.2006.00464.x","article-title":"Lung deposition of fine and ultrafine particles outdoors and indoors during a cooking event and a no activity period","volume":"17","author":"Mitsakou","year":"2007","journal-title":"Indoor Air"},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"10","DOI":"10.1186\/s12989-017-0190-8","article-title":"Deposition efficiency of inhaled particles (15\u20135000 nm) related to breathing pattern and lung function: An experimental study in healthy children and adults","volume":"14","author":"Rissler","year":"2017","journal-title":"Part. Fibre Toxicol."},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"709","DOI":"10.1080\/10473289.2006.10464485","article-title":"Health effects of fine particulate air pollution: Lines that connect","volume":"56","author":"Dockery","year":"2006","journal-title":"J. Air Waste Manag. Assoc."},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1180","DOI":"10.1164\/rccm.201606-1164ED","article-title":"Does particle size matter? Ultrafine particles and hospital visits in eastern Europe","volume":"194","author":"Frampton","year":"2016","journal-title":"Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med."},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"56","DOI":"10.1097\/01.EE9.0000606264.20377.02","article-title":"Long-term exposure to ultrafine particles and cause-specific mortality in the Rome longitudinal study","volume":"3","author":"Cesaroni","year":"2019","journal-title":"Environ. Epidemiol."},{"key":"ref_24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"44","DOI":"10.1016\/j.envint.2015.12.006","article-title":"Associations between ultrafine and fine particles and mortality in five central European cities\u2014Results from the UFIREG study","volume":"88","author":"Lanzinger","year":"2016","journal-title":"Environ. Int."},{"key":"ref_25","unstructured":"PHE (2020, August 05). Review of Interventions to Improve Outdoor Air Quality and Public Health, Available online: https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/publications\/improving-outdoor-air-quality-and-health-review-of-interventions."},{"key":"ref_26","unstructured":"Centre for Cities (2020). How Have the Covid Pandemic and Lockdown Affected Air Quality in Cities?, Centre for Cities."}],"container-title":["International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1660-4601\/19\/1\/575\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,13]],"date-time":"2025-10-13T13:26:44Z","timestamp":1760362004000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1660-4601\/19\/1\/575"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2022,1,5]]},"references-count":26,"journal-issue":{"issue":"1","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,1]]}},"alternative-id":["ijerph19010575"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/ijerph19010575","relation":{},"ISSN":["1660-4601"],"issn-type":[{"type":"electronic","value":"1660-4601"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2022,1,5]]}}}