Why are our railways so hemmed-in by trees?

[CosherB]

If you look at a film of BR in the '60s, there are few lineside trees. We had a 'clean and neat' railway unencumbered by lineside vegetation. These days, increasingly the view from a train is totally obscured by lineside trees. And these must contribute greatly to the 'leaves on the line' problems in autumn.

Why the change? Why don't NR chop back the lineside trees to allow the passengers a view, and to greatly reduce the leaf-fall problem?

 

[robert2000]

i agree, unless your sat in a class 153 where the seats are too low for you to look out of the window.

 

[O L Leigh]

Why don't NR chop back the lineside trees to allow the passengers a view, and to greatly reduce the leaf-fall problem?

They do now. However, as with every property owner, they can only cut back those trees on their own property or where they overhang. Those trees outside the boundary fence are nothing to do with the railways.

The problem back then was lineside fires caused by sparks from steam engines, so the vegetation had to be strictly controlled.

O L Leigh

 

[royaloak]

Why the change?

Because we don't have steam trains anymore to set fire to the line-side and keep things down.

Why don't NR chop back the line-side trees to allow the passengers a view, and to greatly reduce the leaf-fall problem?

because it would cost too much and the nimbys would complain about the noise from those nasty, horrible trains (that were invariably there first :roll

 

[gingerheid]

Because you would get called an eco vandal and would be pilloried by local ntfimby groups (No Tree Felling In ... )

 

[Dai.]

And people would moan about all the co2 from the diesel trains and the trees look better than a steel line.


Personally I feel this thread has had too many people say bad things.

 

[Old Timer]

Lineside trees are bad for the stability of cuttings and embankments, and as such were generally discouraged.

In the 70s and 80s BR was under very tight financial constraints and lineside bushes, and trees were left to save money.

Since then things have moved on and now any attempt to remove them results in public protests from locals and "Green" capaigners.

In addition many of the weedkillers that were used then are now banned, although weedkilling is not done to the same scale now.

 

[jon0844]

I am no tree expert, but I do know that there must be the option of planting solid, evergreen, trees that will shield the surroundings of noise - look nice and not dump leaves all over the tracks.

All good for the environment, and good for the railway in blending in nicely and proving its worth over roads!

 

[Old Timer]

Its not so much that but the roots draw water from the surrounding soil which over time leads to bank slippage. They also tend to attract burrowing animals which causes more problems.

 

[Dai.]

Its not so much that but the roots draw water from the surrounding soil which over time leads to bank slippage. They also tend to attract burrowing animals which causes more problems.

And roots can grow under tracks or near tracks and cause lumps in the ground and under the tracks, that'd also cause problems right?

It's just an uneducated guess but it sounds like it'd be the case.

 

[GB]

Is it not the case that the roots in most cases actually keep the earth together minimizing the risk of a slip?

 

[Old Timer]

You would think so but the roots suck water from the surounding soil in the summer which causes cracks, these fill with water and erosion of the subsoil starts to occur, eventually the upper surface breaks down and will slip.

There are bushes which will consolidate, but the best embankments / cuttings are simply grassed ones where any problems are visible and not hidden

 

[WillPS]

Don't trees act as a noise barrier to some extent?

 

[Old Timer]

Yes but that is no reason for trees to be allowed to grow. They are more trouble than they are worth as far as the Infrastructure Engineer is concerned, and ultimately as they damage the ground they become more prone to falling onto the track (in cuttings). There is also the problem with branches dying off through dry weather which cause similar problems.

Although I do like trees, like so many things they do not mix well with railways where they are close to the track on embankments and in cuttings.

 

[StoneRoad]

If you have a severe slash and bash of the vegetation after it has been allowed to grow unchecked, then the sudden change in the water balance (ie reduction in demand) can also cause problems, above and beyond that of the erosion of an exposed soil surface.
To return the vegetation to a neater state a staged process would be the best method.
Traditional style, cleared of plant growth, land outside the cess to the boundary with the neighbours, would mean the railway could generate a noise problem, and the green corridor effect would be lost. (something the environment can ill afford, on several fronts)
By the way, evergreens do shed their needles: as a slow and steady process all year, rather than the autumm drop that broad leaved trees practice. Sadly, crushed pine needles can also be slippery when wet.

 

[jon0844]

Fair enough. I guess the distance from the lines is a major factor, and with regards to falling leaves/needles and roots - I would not be putting them right beside the line.

Clearly some sections are narrow (in terms of the land owned by the railway) and these sections would be kept clear.

 

[boing_uk]

Don't trees act as a noise barrier to some extent?

When I was on studying on my traffic engineering course a few years ago, in which part of the course was on noise control from highways. Trees actually do very little to prevent noise, despite popular opinion to the contrary.

The best way to prevent noise spill from a source is either a bund or a sturdy noise fence, of the ilk oft found next to motorways and busy roads.

 

[networkrail1]

See this vid for what happens when we try and cut down trees.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaNgWik67Pw

The guy who posted the vid says:-

GLOBAL WARMING, NETWORK RAIL, BRING IT ON, YOU JUST DON'T CARE! Further footage of more totally unnecessary carnage [yes, carnage] taking place in our Conservation Area without any Network Rail manager present, as usual. Badger setts are everywhere on this cutting, but as usual, there is nobody supervising NR's Natural England licence restrictions, which are yet again being illegally 'recklessly' breached. This birch tree being trashed is a long distance from the rails and is no safety hazard whatsoever. However, Network Rail's long term plan is to have no trees at all, to save them money on their vegetation maintenance budget. 'Safety' is always their excuse for all this . How anyone can work like this knowing that they are trashing residents' environment like this for their living, just bemuses me. They clearly have no conscience at all.
Iain Coucher NR CEO, who enjoys birdwatching from one of his holiday homes opposite Jura in Scotland, should hang his head in shame.
All our owls and most of the wildlife on these 169 year cuttings have now lost their habitat, but NR couldn't care less!
Network Rail, a publicly funded company, is now probably one of the most hated companies in Britain.

 

[Old Timer]

From watching the video it is clear that the trees are situtated in a steep cutting on an OHL Electrified railway.

From what I can see I would personally consider that the NR Infrastructure Engineer is taking the right course of action.

Unfortunately the person who posted the video is clearly doing so for his own reasons and appears to be beyond the ability to understand the wider picture, indeed he is spouting a lot of misinformed rubbish.

Sadly this is quite the type of response and attitude that one expects, and is what I hinted at in an earlier post. The "greens" are very fond of this but in most cases fail to see the bigger picture that many of their so called "solutions" are in some cases actually more damaging in the longer term :roll::roll:

 

[bengley]

They've been cutting down numerous trees on the Chesham branch of the Metropolitan Line for the last few weeks. I guess it's because it's badly affected by leaf fall.