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Lineside Vegetation - past, present, and future
- Thread starter Peter C
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It gets absolutely everywhere! Bridges, sidings (if not maintainted), rails, etc. Kingham station was subject to a small garden between the rails and running lines in the station (not buddleia but similar).
-Peter
The roots get into all sort of things. I once (foolishly) parked my car alongside a Viaduct which was infested with buddleia. On my return, one of the large buddleia plants had made a break for freedom and landed on the car, bringing some Viaduct with it. Fortunately the masonry missed the car by a few centimetres.
Thanks.
Morayshire
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Simple blurb on Buddleia...
"Once buddleia begins to grow, its root system can weaken any materials it grows through, often resulting in costly repair bills or even properties being rendered unsafe/unstable/uninhabitable. If the buddleia is growing on riverbanks, it can cause major erosion as it spreads, decimates local flora and dies off.
How does Buddleia affect Properties?
Buddleia can cause structural damage if it gets a foothold within pavements, chimneys and the smallest cracks and crevices of buildings. Once this happens, the roots of the Buddleia plant have the strength to force buildings apart, creating a gateway for water into the property.
Buddleia can also create a damp problem for property owners if the plant is growing against or near an external wall. The build-up of moisture from the earth, leaves and water (from regular watering of plants), can all contribute to damp related problems inside the property.
How does Buddleia affect the environment?
Buddleia is considered to be detrimental to the biodiversity of sites due to its vigorous growth, outgrowing native plants and outcompeting them for natural resources. This is especially problematic alongside river banks where dense strands of buddleia eliminate other plants leaving the banks susceptible to floods and erosion.
from trees"
https://www.wiseknotweed.com/services/buddleia/problems/
Not such a well known problem as knotweed but potentially an expensive one if left unchecked.
"Once buddleia begins to grow, its root system can weaken any materials it grows through, often resulting in costly repair bills or even properties being rendered unsafe/unstable/uninhabitable. If the buddleia is growing on riverbanks, it can cause major erosion as it spreads, decimates local flora and dies off.
How does Buddleia affect Properties?
Buddleia can cause structural damage if it gets a foothold within pavements, chimneys and the smallest cracks and crevices of buildings. Once this happens, the roots of the Buddleia plant have the strength to force buildings apart, creating a gateway for water into the property.
Buddleia can also create a damp problem for property owners if the plant is growing against or near an external wall. The build-up of moisture from the earth, leaves and water (from regular watering of plants), can all contribute to damp related problems inside the property.
How does Buddleia affect the environment?
Buddleia is considered to be detrimental to the biodiversity of sites due to its vigorous growth, outgrowing native plants and outcompeting them for natural resources. This is especially problematic alongside river banks where dense strands of buddleia eliminate other plants leaving the banks susceptible to floods and erosion.
from trees"
https://www.wiseknotweed.com/services/buddleia/problems/
Not such a well known problem as knotweed but potentially an expensive one if left unchecked.
chris_in_salop
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I agree that this is silly, and people often have their priorities wrong. It's not as if tall trees, with a dense canopy, are necessarily that good for wildlife anyway.
But there doesn't have to be a conflict between nature conservation and the operational needs of the railway.
To give an example local to me, last winter an overgrown cutting near Telford Central was cleared of trees. But the stumps (and roots) were left in situ, along with piles of logs and (small) patches of bare soil.
I applaud whoever did this. In the next few years it's going to be brilliant for mining bees, mason bees, deadwood beetles and lots of other wildlife. The publicly accessible path nearby is already a bit of a local hotspot for butterflies and dragonflies. Insect-eating birds are likely to benefit.
Plus I imagine that it is much more practical for the railway - the trees are no longer shedding leaves all over the track, but the roots will still be helping to bind the soil together. And I'd guess that it's also more cost-effective to leave the chopped-down wood in place, rather than have to pay to take it elsewhere for disposal.
DarloRich
Veteran Member
you are correct - however that doesn't explain the damage. Most of the damage comes for the root system that is extremely aggressive, fast growing and very strong. The plant also grows very quickly and spreads widely and will grow in almost anything. It gets into masonry and can force gaps apart and is generally a right pita. It also forces other plants out by using up resources quickly and over a very wide area due to the extensive root system.
So if a buddleia plant manages to get to a bridge, it could easily damage the bridge to the point where NR would either have to close the bridge to save it from shrubbery or run a temporary speed restriction over it.
-Peter
DarloRich
Veteran Member
Potentially. What it is going to do is break bits of mortar and masonry off.
Some years ago I visited Rothamstead Research Station in Harpenden when they had a week of Open Days. One fascinating project was the measurement of pressures developed by plant root systems. It was shown to be tons per square inch, hence the damage unwanted roots can cause to structures.
Clarence Yard
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The problem started in BR days in the very late 80’s when we couldn’t spray with 245T anymore. 245T was a half brother of “Agent Orange” and it was a very, very effective weedkiller. Since we stopped using that, the foliage (especially buddliea) has just grown. Slowly at first (because the 245T was still in the soil or the cracks) but now it’s all too noticeable.
Without a weedkiller that really does the job (i.e one dose kills it and doesn’t let it come back again) clearing has now become a repetitive manual job that has to be fitted in around all the other work. Some of it needs valuable possession/isolation time, something we never really had to do much of when we using that severely dodgy 245T.
Without a weedkiller that really does the job (i.e one dose kills it and doesn’t let it come back again) clearing has now become a repetitive manual job that has to be fitted in around all the other work. Some of it needs valuable possession/isolation time, something we never really had to do much of when we using that severely dodgy 245T.
I wonder if trees are being used as a sound barrier in some places? In others I believe they are used to decontaminate the land. Silver birches are some of the best trees for planting on contaminated land.
The big issue I notice in the North is Himalayan Balsam. Its seeds get dragged all over the place by passing trains, and it's very invasive and grows quickly to overshadow established species.
The big issue I notice in the North is Himalayan Balsam. Its seeds get dragged all over the place by passing trains, and it's very invasive and grows quickly to overshadow established species.
Railwaysceptic
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What was wrong with 245T?
Small amounts of some rather nasty dioxins are also produced during the manufacturing process.
245T is the most potent active ingredient in agent orange and the agent orange issues are due to the dioxin contamination.
Balsam is an invasive species from overseas, and seeds prolifically with the seeds easily transported by wind and water. There has been an outbreak at my workplace, and some of us go out at this time of year to pull it up.
Railwaysceptic
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Thank you.
alxndr
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One problem with excessive vegetation that never seems to get brought up is access and safety. It's not unheard of to have to stop work due to there being simply no way of getting down the cess thanks to thick brambles, nettles, buddleia and bushes.
It's becoming increasingly common to have to get a line blockage "for walking purposes only". That's more strain on the signallers, more time lost, and is a massive pain when you need to get back but something more urgent is demanding the signaller's attention and you're left there for an hour or so essentially trapped by the vegetation. That's when people face the temptation to take stupid risks they wouldn't otherwise dream of.
It's becoming increasingly common to have to get a line blockage "for walking purposes only". That's more strain on the signallers, more time lost, and is a massive pain when you need to get back but something more urgent is demanding the signaller's attention and you're left there for an hour or so essentially trapped by the vegetation. That's when people face the temptation to take stupid risks they wouldn't otherwise dream of.
Do we actually know on whose land these trees are growing?
Unless it's causing structural issues why control a plant which provides a splash of colour and feeds butterflies* ?
* Other invertebrates are available.
What harm? What inconvenience?
Skimpot flyer
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Incidents of mature pine trees falling onto railway lines are, thankfully, extremely rare.
Unlike other species, such as old oak, which are...... common
Unlike other species, such as old oak, which are...... common
Ha! That old chestnut.
Skimpot flyer
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Somebody put up a video of a fallen tree on YewTube
alxndr
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Do Network Rail have access to maps which show which railway lines are at greatest risk from high winds and potential tree fall, and if so, is there any way they could focus on those sections of line for hard pruning/felling of trees which present a hazard?
If such maps don't exist, would they potentially be of any use if they did?
If such maps don't exist, would they potentially be of any use if they did?
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