Transport hubs

Stations and airports move large crowds through open, accessible buildings. That puts forecourts, concourses and back-of-house areas in reach of vehicle attack, forced entry and blast. UK specifiers layer vehicle barriers, rated entrances and blast resistant glazing, and premises owners must weigh what Martyn’s Law requires of them.

• Martyn’s Law tiersFrom 200 people: standard and enhanced tiers
• PAS 68 and IWA 14-1HVM for forecourts and drop-off zones
• ISO 16933 EXVBlast rated glazing for concourses
• LPS 1175Rated doors for back-of-house and plant areas

The threats transport hubs face

Forecourts and drop-off areas sit between the public road and the building, and vehicles reach them freely. A hostile vehicle can be used as a weapon against crowds, or driven at the building to deliver a bomb. Because these areas must stay open to traffic, the answer is tested vehicle mitigation rather than closure.

Back-of-house areas hold ticket offices, cash handling, control rooms and plant. They see less footfall but hold high value targets, and service corridors give quiet routes through the building. Security doors rated to LPS 1175 keep these areas separated from the public zones.

Concourses carry the blast risk. Large glazed facades and roofs turn blast pressure into flying fragments across crowded space. Glazing tested to ISO 16933, with a stated hazard rating, keeps fragments in the frame. Blast rated curtain walling lets the facade keep its glazed appearance while carrying a rating.

Entrances must handle crowd safety as well as security. Peak flows push large numbers of people through limited openings, so entry control has to move them quickly without creating crush points. Turnstiles and gated lanes give staff a controlled route while the public flows through wide openings.

The standards and guidance for transport hubs

Martyn’s Law is the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025, which received Royal Assent in April 2025. The standard tier covers premises where 200 to 799 people may be present. The enhanced tier covers premises with 800 or more, and qualifying events. An implementation period of at least 24 months applies before enforcement begins, and the regulator is the Security Industry Authority. Enhanced tier premises must consider physical measures, but the Act does not mandate specific products. The Martyn’s Law guide explains the duties in full.

Vehicle impact is rated to PAS 68, IWA 14-1 or ISO 22343-1:2023, the current international standard. A rating states vehicle type and mass, impact speed, impact angle and penetration distance. Common test vehicles run from a 1,500 kg car to a 30,000 kg truck at 48, 64 or 80 km/h. The vehicle impact ratings guide shows how to read a rating, and HVM street furniture brings tested protection into public areas without closing them off.

ISO 16933 rates blast glazing for vehicle bombs and satchel charges. EXV classes use 100 kg TNT equivalent at stand-off distances from EXV45 down to EXV10, where the number is the distance in metres and EXV10 is the most severe. SB classes cover hand-carried charges. Results carry a hazard rating from A (no break) to F (high hazard). The blast ratings guide covers the full scale.

LPS 1175 rates forced entry resistance from A1 (old SR1) to H20 (old SR8), combining a tool category with minutes of attack time. In the B3 class the doorset holds for three minutes against hand tools. C5 extends that to five minutes against crowbars and drills, and D10 to ten minutes against sledgehammers and disc cutters. Back-of-house doors usually sit in the B3 to D10 range. See the LPS 1175 guide.

Martyn’s Law sets duties, not products. The Act requires premises to assess the risk and prepare accordingly. Which barriers, doors or glazing you fit is decided by your risk assessment, not by the legislation.

Transport hubs zone by zone

Transport hubs need different protection at the forecourt, the concourse and the back of house. The table gives typical ratings for each zone.

Specification mistakes to avoid in transport hubs

• Fitting untested street furniture and calling it HVM. Only impact tested products with a stated rating count.
• Glazing a concourse without a hazard rating. The glass must be tested to ISO 16933 in its frame, not just laminated.
• Leaving back-of-house doors weaker than the public areas. Attackers look for the quiet service corridor.
• Reading Martyn’s Law as a product mandate. It requires planning and proportionate measures, not a shopping list.
• Forgetting plant rooms and service yards. They sit on the building edge and attract both thieves and hostile vehicles.
• Designing HVM that blocks emergency access. Keep routes for emergency vehicles passable, using removable or operable units where needed.

Where stations meet the wider public realm, see protective security for public spaces, which follows the same principles.