Wildlife on the Railways
A rare population of adders lives alongside the Kenilworth Common railway line. They like nothing more than sunning themselves on warm ballast & embankments. Network Rail has teamed up with the Warwickshire Amphibian and Reptile Team (WART) to look after them.
Great Crested Newts are breeding in ponds near the route north of Lichfield. We set up a 1 km amphibian exclusion fence to protect the newts from railway work.
The White Clawed Crayfish, a threatened British species, was found in the Darnford Brook. Over 200 individuals were successfully rescued & relocated with the help of English Nature.
A sett of badgers made its home in a railway embankment which threatened track stability. We constructed an artificial sett and moved the badgers to their new home before work on the embankment began.Land
The railway uses less land per passenger mile than roads.
Major landowner
Network Rail owns a large amount of land, including many sites of great environmental, geological, historical & architectural importance. The railway has been part of the British landscape for two centuries - in many ways it has become as much a natural feature as the hills and valleys through which it runs.
Many animals and plants make use of the variety of habitats found on railway land and these are managed to minimise the risk to the railway, while preserving the benefit to wildlife.
Many rail-related projects are also a catalyst for urban regeneration and revitalising town centres.
Contaminated Land
When we took over running the railway in 2002, we inherited land that has been subject to potentially contaminative uses. We have a programme to investigate & clean up historically contaminated sites that pose a threat to human health or water resources.
We have invested £48 million so far in cleaning contaminated land. We work closely with affected neighbours and the relevant regulators (the Environment Agency, Scottish Environment Protection Agency and local authorities).