Plants, Trees & Animals

Keeping the railway safe

Trees & plants can cover up signals, fall on to the tracks & overhead power lines and prevent workers from getting to places of safety when trains are passing. We keep the area between the rails completely clear so that we can run a safe & reliable railway for passengers & allow efficient maintenance. From the tracks to the boundary fence, the size of plants changes with smaller plants closer to the tracks and larger trees further away from the tracks. Our full-time Arboriculturalist (tree expert) advises which species of plants & trees should be allowed to grow next to the railway.

Looking after the community

If we can, we will work on the plants & trees near the railway during the day between Monday and Friday. But sometimes we have to work at nights or week-ends so that we can keep the trains running.

Before cutting down any trees, in most cases, we discuss our plans with the local authority so that we are sensitive to local needs.

Autumn Leaves

Leaf mulch forms a teflon-like coating on the rails causing trains to slip & slide. This delays the trains and can damage both track & train.

Train delays caused by autumn leaf fall have been significantly reduced in the last two years. We have done this mainly by removing trees that are too close to the track. We tackle leaf fall by using 54 ‘leaf-busting’ trains, 82 two-men leaf-busting teams (strategically located across the country & on-call round-the-clock), special leaf fall weather forecasts produced by the Met Office & ADAS and ‘skid-pan’ training courses for train drivers which helps them to cope with the autumn conditions.

Invasive & injurious plants (weeds)

Japanese knotweed, giant hogweed, common ragwort and other invasive & injurious plants cause serious problems. We work hard to control these weeds on our land and dispose of the waste responsibly so that we do not accidentally spread them to new sites.

Dealing with animal pests

Rats & mice that live on the railway can cross into our neighbours’ properties. When this happens, we send someone to visit the scene & investigate the problem. If required, we will then take the appropriate action.

Please call the National Helpline on 08457 11 41 41 if you need our help.

Birds, animals and habitats

There are over 30,000 hectares of lineside vegetation along the 20,000 miles of the track. This makes the railway a major natural resource which needs to be managed at all times of the year to keep the railway safety. Before we clear vegetation, we carry out a risk assessment of the area to see if any nesting birds or protected species may be present and check again each day of the project to look for any new arrivals. For example, if a nest is found, we identify & mark an exclusion zone of at least two metres around the nest. We also encourage native species of trees & shrubs as they provide the best habitat for native animals & protected species.

More information

If you would like more information about how we manage the plants & trees on the railway, please go to the Vegetation page in our Environment section.

What to do if you have a problem caused by the railway or have more questions

If you have a problem caused by plants, trees & animals or any other part of the railway or if you simply want more information, please contact the National Helpline on 08457 11 41 41.