The manufactured gas mentioned above is referenced in the last paragraph of E.M. Forster's Celestial Omnibus:
"The body of Mr. Septimus Bons has been found in a shockingly mutilated condition in the vicinity of the Bermondsey gas works."
This plays into the imagery of the story because the gas works were places of heat, fires and poisonous gases where men lasted but a few years before the rigor and pollution killed them, a stark contrast to the heaven of artistic beauty and erudition at the other end of the ride.