Fire protection for St Pancras International Eurostar station
Published: 01 January, 2008
St Pancras International will ultimately be used by over 45 million travellers every year, cutting the Eurostar journey time from London to Paris to two-and-a-quarter hours.
The station is one of the largest transport hubs in Europe, with 13 platforms, six of which are devoted to international Eurostar services. There are also 57 retail outlets and designer boutiques, plus Eurostar arrivals and departure lounges.
System design, product selection, installation, testing and commissioning of the new and extensive fire safety solution was undertaken by the Infrastructure and Rail Services division of EMCOR.
In total, 5,000 Hochiki ESP (Enhanced System Protocol) analogue addressable devices have been installed throughout the entire site on 14 Kentec Electronics’ Syncro control panels and repeaters. A variety of Hochiki devices were selected, including optical smoke sensors for back office and main passenger concourse areas; multi-sensors for more challenging environments such as plant rooms and workshops; heat detectors in kitchens and toilets; audio visual devices and base sounder beacons.
The devices are all automatically re-calibrated every 24 hours by the Syncro panels to compensate for any environmental contamination and to ensure that they continue to operate reliably at the specified sensitivity. The Kentec panels are fully compatible with all Hochiki’s ESP protocol devices, and are configured to share system information and event details on a highly fault-tolerant secure network. In the event of a confirmed fire, the Syncro system directly controls and monitors the station’s voice evacuation system, which is audible in all of the station’s public areas.
Two other key features further minimise any risk of false alarms, data integrity and error detection. Hochiki’s ESP protocol uses a combination of sophisticated algorithms that reduce data corruption. Additionally, with parity and checksum error detection principles applied to every set of data, unwanted external “noise”, such as EMC interference is eliminated.
Hochiki optical smoke sensors are designed for efficient detection and the virtual elimination of false alarms. The sensors’ chambers incorporate uniquely angled baffles that ensure that internal reflections are not misinterpreted as an alarm condition. Precise positioning of the optics in the chamber enable it to also sense a wider range of fire types, so providing a more balanced response to different types of smoke particles. This is an Hochiki-developed technology that the company calls “high-performance flat response”.
To allow the most suitable sensing mode to be adopted for a particular environment, the multi-sensors can be set to heat only, smoke only, or thermally-enhanced smoke detection mode.
The installation is managed in the station’s main control room where, around the clock, a 1.2-metre LCD screen displays the entire station and its fire detection system. This can provide an overview of the whole installation, or drill-down to show various levels of detail; if necessary pinpointing information on any specific device.
The same solutions have been adopted to protect all of Phase Two of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link that includes 29 portals, shafts and technical buildings, two main train depots, the new Ebbsfleet International Station and the new Stratford International Station.
