Case Study: London Underground achieves enhanced fire safety and maintenance efficiency with Xtralis VESDA aspirating smoke detection

London Underground Shares Best Practice With Moscow Metro

London Underground hosted a Moscow Metro delegation to share best practices for improving fire safety across metro networks. The challenge was reliably detecting and smoke and fires in hard-to-access areas — escalator inclines, lift shafts, concealed voids and depots — while enabling efficient testing, maintenance and faster, more accurate emergency response to minimise unnecessary station closures.

Xtralis demonstrated aspirating smoke detection (ASD) solutions (VESDA VLC, VLP, VLS, OSID and VESDA‑E VEP) and how the systems integrate with London’s Station Management System and CCTV to pinpoint activations and support evacuations. Moscow Metro has installed more than 400 VESDA detectors across 70+ stations with further expansion planned, and reported positive feedback on documentation, handover processes and internal knowledge sharing that will strengthen their fire-safety strategy.

London Underground

Karl Grundy

Lead Fire Engineer