This article is NOT about HS2, that’s another story.

Our railway lines are a national treasure built in the main by our ancestors. Today, Network Rail is the custodian of all our 10,000 miles of track. It is also the custodian of over 10 million trees growing 60 metres either side of the track. That’s one tree on each side of the track every 3 meters.

The Network Rail website offers a few examples of how well they look after the trees: “In the Avon Gorge, on the Portishead line (freight trains only), there are six rare species of whitebeam trees on the cliffs above the River Avon that can’t be found anywhere else. 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.”

They have also established an inventory of the trees an example of which is shown below:

England, Wales & Northern Ireland
Species	%	Population (millions)
Ash	20	1.67
Oak	18	1.50
Sycamore	17	1.37

Network Rail has an £800 million five-year clearance programme entitled “Lineside Asset Management Control Period 6 (CP6)”. The program involves the “removal of all leaf fall species” within falling distance of the track, “intensive intervention” on vegetation in close proximity to the railway and the removal of emergent lower level growth at the earliest stage.

There are two issues that annoy:

• Some trees may require felling due to safety, but clear felling? This looks a lot like “just get rid of the lot, then the problem is over”. And you get images like the above from the Norwich-Sheringham line. (courtesy of Norwich Evening News) and Clapham (below - was this really an issue?) . There is obviously a disconnect.

• Why not fell with a view to releasing some value to the local community? Why just fell, chip and/or leave the logs? Network Rail had an inspiring story on their site about using logs from the trees they felled (see the link below). So why not role this out nationally?

https://www.networkrail.co.uk/news/project-cops-for-a-shed-load-of-logs/

Part of the issue is the organisation – have a look at the website and try and find out who is accountable for the program and an email address. The answer is that each route is separately managed – there is no integration.

Meanwhile, there is a petition that is trying to bring attention to the problem of the clear felling:

https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/stop-network-rail-felling-millions-of-trees

Photo Attribution: Bristol: Avon Gorge by Lewis Clarke