The British train operating company South Western Railway (SWR) has installed an air-purifying column at one of its stations, as part of a trial programme to create a healthier environment for passengers and staff.
The column has been developed by clean air technology firm Pluvo and is sited on platform four at Salisbury station.
It will monitor and remove harmful pollutants from the air using its advanced air filtration technology to create a cleaner and healthier environment for customers.
The column contains a three-stage filtration process that eliminates harmful airborne particulate matter, often referred to as PM2.5, targeted gases and viruses.
It also has a built-in air quality monitoring system that provides data-driven insights.
In addition, it can also display travel and air quality information, as well as give passengers a chance to record their thoughts on the initiative, through a text-based chat function.
South Western Railway’s senior design and innovation manager, Dan Piner said in an interview the firm’s sustainability team had identified a number of air quality hotspots, including Salisbury railway station.
Piner said air quality is an issue at the station, because a large number of diesel engines travel through Salisbury and can sit at the platforms for several minutes at a time.
He added Salisbury also has a nearby car park and a train depot next door, which are also contributing factors.
Piner told me South Western Railway looked at a number of different air quality technologies, but the Pluvo column stood out because the platforms at Salisbury are quite wide and can take such a large structure.
Piner added if the six-month-trial is successful, more Pluvo columns at additional stations, as part of the company’s drive to improve the journey experience for all its customers.
“I was at Salisbury railway station last week, and I spoke to some customers about it,” he added.
“They were really interested in what the column is doing. Some of our staff on the platform also asked questions and were interested in it, as well. It’s getting positive feedback, so far, and we hope that feedback will continue in the future.”
The partnership with Pluvo is just one of the ways in which SWR is improving every step of customers’ journeys.
It has also installed more than 4,000 cycle spaces across its vast network in the last five years and is encouraging sustainable tourism by enabling customers to travel by rail to a destination and then continue their journeys through bike and scooter hire.
And it was also the first train operating company to publish a roadmap to net zero and to have its carbon emission reduction targets recognised by the Science Based Targets initiative, a leading global climate body.
“There are other initiatives which the sustainability team are working on, as well,” added Piner. “This is part of a bigger approach, not a standalone project.”
Pluvo chief executive Matteo Maccario said in a statement it was delighted to be working with South Western Railway to improve the air quality at one of the region’s busiest stations.
“Air pollution is the single biggest environmental threat to global health and the Pluvo column is a solution which can help create healthier and safer spaces for us all,” added Maccario.
