Trees and the railway

Managing our 6.3 million trees, and working with neighbours who own 7 million trees next to the network, keeps the railway safe and operational, and we link up with our environmental professionals for best practice and research.

The trees on our land include very old and rare specimens – and there are clear regional differences because of variations inhabitat。Ash and oak are the most frequently found near the railway in England and Wales, for example, while birch and willow are most seen in Scotland.

You can see a full breakdown of tree species found near the railway at the bottom of this page.

Our tree census

Leaves falling from trees onto the railway reduce trains’ grip and cause disruption to services, and a single tree can have as many as 50,000 leaves. This all adds up, and it’s one of the reasons we carry outvegetation management。另一种是防止由于年龄，疾病或刮风天气落在轨道上的树木的危险，并使我们的员工努力工作。

Why leaves on the line cause delays and how we minimise the impact

We use remote sensing methods such as aerial surveys to create our inventory of trees and to support our tree inspection professionals to carry out tree surveys on the ground. This will enable us identify and target specific trees that have the potential to cause problems for train passengers, so we can plan our vegetation management more efficiently.

Read about our tree survey and how it can help us target our approach to vegetation management

Veteran trees

Older, or ‘veteran’, trees are a fixture of the railway landscape. Our job is to make them safe so they don’t affect the running of the railway, as sensitively as possible so that this doesn’t harm the tree.

即使在铁路之前也存在这些树的许多树木。有些人受法律保护。退伍军人与戴木子很重要habitatsfor rare fungi, invertebrates, lichen, birds and bats – they have a structural complexity providing many habitat niches that do not exist on younger trees.

案例分析

During an environmental assessment as part of the绿色运输走廊项目, the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust identified a veteran willow tree on the Hull to Selby line. It had previously been pruned to remove branches growing towards the line, but the work was affecting its long-term health and safety.

亚搏彩票软件官网网络铁路专家与一个独立的树木养殖者和树委员会合作，以评估条件和风险因素，因此他们可以就保存树的适当管理计划达成一致，以便仍然是安全的。作为结果执行的工作意味着树对网络的安全操作没有构成威胁，并且树的健康状况及其长期稳定性保持。

该树现在在我们的危险目录上注册，并通过现场标牌标识，因此在未来的任何工作之前，它的重要性是其重要性。

Partnerships

When planning our vegetation management work – whether we’re removing trees or planting new ones away from the railway – our experts look to our charity and governmental partners for advice on best practice.

Some of the organisations we work with include;

• Natural England
• Scottish Natural Heritage
• 自然资源威尔士
• Defra
• Tree Council
• 林地信任
• The Wildlife Trusts
• Forestry Commission.

Ash dieback

Ash dieback is caused by a fungal pathogen calledHymenoscyphus fraxineus, also known asChalara Fraxinea自20世纪60年代和20世纪70年代以来，荷兰榆树病以来，是影响英国最重要的树病。

It will lead to the decline and death of the majority of ash trees in Britainincluding those on our lineside.

To aid the fight against this disease we have linked up with The Tree Council to produce our Ash Die back tool kit to assist with the future management of Ash trees on the railway and to help develop our contingency plans.

More about how we work collaboratively on environmental projects

Tree planting

As part of our aim to achieve a net positive biodiversity impact with our large infrastructure projects during the period from 2014 to 2019, we undertake a number of tree planting initiatives to help offset any biodiversity lost due to work we’ve carried out.

泰晤士河链接和大世西部是我们与当地野生动物信托和其他组织合作的项目之一，以在适当的位置种植最合适的树种 - 远离铁路，以及最有利于当地环境。

生物多样性抵消以及我们如何管理铁路的栖息地

Did you know?

• There are over 10 million trees growing 60 metres either side of the railway, covering 20,000 miles – some of these trees lie beyond our borders but may still affect the railway.
• A mature tree can have between 10,000 and 50,000 leaves and each autumn thousands of tonnes of leaves fall onto railway lines across the country.
• The six types of tree that cause us the most problems – due to their size and number of leaves that fall – are sycamore, poplar, horse and sweet chestnut, ash and lime
• 网络上最大的树木是沿岸Redwoods（Sequoias）的海岸大道，无论是铁路站在Avon Station的布拉德福德（图下图）附近的铁路。最大的是32米高，直径2.5米。当这一拉伸铁路建造在1830年代时，他们可能会恢复到返回这一点，这意味着他们是该国最古老的海岸红木。

在雅芳峡谷,Portishead线(货运trains only), there are six rare species of whitebeam trees on the cliffs above the River Avon that can’t be found anywhere else (leaves pictured left). They have all evolved within a self-contained ecosystem. We have to manage the whitebeams carefully, working with Natural England to ensure we can keep the rock faces safe while protecting the trees.

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