CB Frost and The New Tube For London

With London’s population growing rapidly, over the next few decades, trains, stations and tracks are being modernised across the London Underground Network to meet demands. The New Tube will first be introduced for the Piccadilly line, with the Bakerloo, Central and Waterloo, and City lines to follow.

To provide a more reliable service and meet London’s growing demand, 250 new Tube trains will be introduced. The new trains will allow for more capacity and for the first time, they will be fully air cooled to provide more comfortable journeys for passengers as they travel around the city. As the new trains are built, as well as being BS6853 Cat 1A approved for use in rail vehicles, all materials must be LUL (London Underground Library) approved for use on the London Underground Tube lines.

LUL 1-085 – Fire Safety Performance of Materials

The LUL 1-085 Fire Safety Performance of Materials standard specifies the essential requirements for materials used in London Underground locations. This standard applies not only to stations and running tunnels, but also to all passenger and engineering trains. Materials must be specified for:

• Flammability (include the risk of explosion)
• Smoke emissions
• Toxic fume emissions

At CB Frost, we have an LUL 1-085 approved material in HT800 silicone foam. HT800 is designed specifically for use within the rail sector and is commonly used for applications including gap fillers, door seals, lighting enclosure gaskets, LCD display gaskets, vibration isolation and HVAC seals which will be essential for the new air cooled Tube trains.

HT800 meets the most stringent of industry requirements; in addition to being LUL approved, HT800 silicone foam is also UL94 approved to V-0 and HF-1, and approved to BS6853 Cat 1A low smoke and toxicity. As a highly versatile material, HT800 features a number of characteristics that are suitable for use within a wide range of applications within the London Underground Network, particularly in the manufacture of the new Tube trains:

• Enhanced sealing performance – HT800 features a compact cell structure that resists penetration of moisture, fire particles and other foreign bodies.
• Excellent temperature resistance – As well as being able to withstand exposure to ultra violet rays and ozone, HT800 is resilient to extreme temperatures, both low and high. As a result, it continues to function in the case of extremely low temperatures, and provides a strong seal in the case of fire.
• Compression set – HT800 has impressive memory and low stress relaxation, combined with an excellent compression set. Many gasket failures are related to compression set and softening, so HT800 helps to reduce maintenance costs due to these beneficial characteristics.

To learn more about HT800 silicone foam and find out if it could provide a suitable material for your application, you can contact CB Frost today by calling +44 (0)121 773 8494. Our highly experienced team will be happy to advise you in making the right material choice.