01.11.06
Thinking outside the station box
Think rail and perhaps the first thing that comes to most people’s minds is trains, platforms, tickets and passengers; but I bet that vegetation management, ecology and environmental issues doesn’t figure too highly on anyone’s list of the obvious!
It might surprise some people to know that a vast amount of work goes into embankment maintenance, crossing, access viability and cess clearance…and it is not all in the name of safety. Functionality and environmental responsibility do go hand in hand on the railway and greater accountability is demanded of those companies charged with vegetation management.
Take for example the Great Eastern Line.
A typical remit for tcm, the vegetation management company who is charged with the majority of routine maintenance works on this line, will include pruning, tree felling, crossings clearance, safe walking routes and cess paths accessibility.
tcm is regularly scheduled to fell trees – even when it is clear there are nesting birds present. Unless the tree is posing a danger to the railway - track or train - there is really no gain to be made for removing the habitat of the birds themselves.
What to do
Change of season will bring the opportunity to fell once the family has flown the nest. Where it cannot be avoided, special licenses can be obtained from DEFRA to fell and clear scrub during the nesting season.
Other areas of concern include badger sets and rabbit colonies. It is sometimes the case, however, that the sets and warrens are causing the tracks to destabilize, thereby putting the line in danger.
Neill Price, Director of Railways, health and safety at tcm, outlines how ecology, the environment and the railways can and do accommodate each other’s needs. Standards such as reliability and punctuality do not have to be compromised in order to accommodate responsible embankment and track maintenance, from a vegetation management point of view.
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