Great Western Coffee Shop

Not sure into which board this little rant should be placed, so, Mods please move it if necessary.

I attended an event at Dawlish Warren yesterday evening, so took advantage of the glorious weather to take some pictures. One view I have always enjoyed is that seen from the footbridge to the south of the station back over the camping coaches, station and Exe estuary. This vista can no longer be enjoyed as the vegetation alongside the track has grown up to such an extent that it spoils the view (and I would feel sorry for any residents of the camping coaches if they were still in use)!

I guess it is Network Rail that is responsible for cutting the vegetation back and presume that it is no longer a priority project?

Here is a view of the scene in the mid-80s.. (not my photo!)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/lickeybanker/15637406647/in/photolist-pPPNcr-hBV47S-fQc41a-hBVUFv-fQc3Yr-hBUGBf-hBUDGs-hBVges-hBV7vL-hBUG4m-hBVdm3-hBUwM4-hBUDmB-hBViZh-hBUEc4-hBWwmD-hBVtvw-hBWpni-hBQZhB-hBUZGs-hBWtde-hBVZ7z-hBW1Kp-hBVSCn-gBvkiX-hBTQRT-hBVkhX-hBVAS5-hBVwvD-hBVh1B-hBUZst-hBVCHj-hBV4N3-hBUZ5e-hBUxh3-hBW8RP-hBUrYC-hBUBrq-hBV4gk-gBuS2G-hBVtsp-hBVs6X-hBSyMZ-hBTKA2-hBR6oL-hBU1Rn-hBVoVu-hBR8YA-af1Yhw-hBV7fz (https://www.flickr.com/photos/lickeybanker/15637406647/in/photolist-pPPNcr-hBV47S-fQc41a-hBVUFv-fQc3Yr-hBUGBf-hBUDGs-hBVges-hBV7vL-hBUG4m-hBVdm3-hBUwM4-hBUDmB-hBViZh-hBUEc4-hBWwmD-hBVtvw-hBWpni-hBQZhB-hBUZGs-hBWtde-hBVZ7z-hBW1Kp-hBVSCn-gBvkiX-hBTQRT-hBVkhX-hBVAS5-hBVwvD-hBVh1B-hBUZst-hBVCHj-hBV4N3-hBUZ5e-hBUxh3-hBW8RP-hBUrYC-hBUBrq-hBV4gk-gBuS2G-hBVtsp-hBVs6X-hBSyMZ-hBTKA2-hBR6oL-hBU1Rn-hBVoVu-hBR8YA-af1Yhw-hBV7fz)

whilst below is the scene yesterday!


 

As the taxpayer funds NR, I doubt they'd be happy having to pay more in fares just to keep the view good....

Indeed.....sort the signals and the rest of the infrastructure, then cut the vegetation back.............having said that it will probably look like the Amazon basin by then!!!  ;D

I recall several journeys along the B&H in the last couple of years, somewhere between Castle Cary and Newbury, where trackside vegetation was actually scratching the side of an eastbound train!

Also very important wildlife corridors & thick vegetation (particularly brambles & blackthorn) also acts as a very effective method of preventing unauthorised access to the railway. Unless there is a need to remove certain species for railhead adhesion purposes, or for stabilising earthworks, then I can't see any point in removing vegetation (unless it encroaches on the space required for trains & maintenance folk) as the benefits in my mind outweigh the disadvantages, particularly if it's done solely to improve the view from a footbridge!

Please don't get me wrong. I wasn't actually complaining that the scrub should be cleared because of the view...... simply that scrub clearance in general by Network Rail is very much bottom of the priorities pile (rightly!) and in places, it really does look untidy.

Hope that didn't come across as too much of a counter-rant!

I think the vegetation clearance thing has become much more focussed towards the individual tree level in recent years (some tree species cause a lot more problems than others during leaf fall season), rather than old fashioned 'kill it all', apart from where it's done for visibility at sites such level crossings. No significant problems now with steam locos causing lineside fires and I suspect better understanding of the habitat value and more controlled use of herbicides are all conspiring against your photography!

Maybe you could buy a very tall step ladder for your next visit? Or maybe some tree climbing kit?!  ;) ;D

There's a piece about vegetation clearance in the month's "Modern Railways". Apparently, letting the linesides grow was a policy introduced by BR. The author, Ian Walmsley, says that was a stupid decision and lists quite a few reasons for this opinion (most of which are various results of different parts of tree falling onto the line). He is therefore pleased that Network Rail's 'London North Eastern & East Midlands' 'route' recently implemented a ^5.6m programme of vegetation clearance, which he claims has contributed to a drop of 3,000 'impact minutes' compared to the previous autumn.

No problem, PhilWakely - the subsequent discussion on this topic, covering much of the Great Western region, confirms that your decision to post here was spot on (even if a little obscured by leaves).  ;)

Senior managers in the 1960's and subsequently, didn't appreciate the difference between "management" and "neglect".  Whilst diesel and electric trains didn't cause lineside fires, trees and bushes didn't stop growing to compensate.

The last Network Rail estimate to restore national linesides to something approaching 1930's standards would cost about the same as another Reading station.  It would be a brave person to put that business case together and defend it.

There is a thread newly started with several posts on the "Plymouth and Cornwall" Board relating specifically to the Newquay Branch jungle.

One place where vegetation should be cleared is bridges and viaducts. Tree routes (roots) can bring down brick and stone work. Also Ian Walmsey in a previous Modern Railways showed a signal obscured until the last minute.

There is also a tree growing on the bank between the two underbridges at the East end of Taplow station which obscures the view of trains approaching Platform 3 and presummably obscures the drivers view of people on the platform. Especialy as  people do seem to like walking the yellow line with a phone to their ear and their back to the trains. Line speed is 90 mph.

Editted for roots.

Shouldn't the trains be cut back if they get too close to tree routes?

At Redruth its not just trackside. There is a nice looking flower bed all of a sudden. Looks very pretty, my photo doesn't do it justice, but its looking very colourful.
I guess its well fertilized by HSTs!

I had the pleasure of travel with Pathfinder Railtours on their Heart of Wales Rambler yesterday, from Exeter to Shrewsbury via Hereford and return via Llandrindod Wells and Briton Ferry. Travelling in excellent condition Mark I stock, I thought I'd take the opportunity of standing with my head out of the slam door window taking photographs. Sadly not possible on virtually the entire Marches line or the Central Wales line because of overgrowing vegetation and I suspect the coaches will need a heck of a lot of treatment for scratches.  In places, the sound of rather large tree branches hitting the train was almost like gunshot.

No photos to illustrate the point for obvious reasons!
 

Sounds to me like the sort of work which could usefully be done by layabouts/Young offenders/prisoners but no doubt there would be issues over their Human Rights being contravened?

Since you would be in breach of the railway byelaws by leaning out of the window (assuming there is a notice telling you not to), I don't think that argument for reducing trackside vegetation would cut much ice with any of the relevant authorities.

Nope, the one thing missing from the very well refurbished coaches was the "Don't lean out of the window" sticker above the door   :-[

If it were Only a case of preserving the view, then I agree that it is not best use of money, except in special cases when the view is of particular importance to tourists and leisure travellers.

However uncontrolled vegetation is also a considerable fire risk, especially during droughts, and fires are very expensive in both direct damage and delay minutes.
Uncontrolled vegetation also provides cover for metal thieves, trespassers and perhaps even terrorists.
Track workers may be put at increased risk when vegetation forces them to walk in the four foot rather than on the cess.
Failures of signalling equipment and electric cables are more time consuming to locate and rectify if the equipment is buried in greenery.

Very expensive to train them up on the rules/H&S.....

However, thick brambles and/or assorted thorny species such as hawthorn & blackthorn, all of which thrive along our rail network, are particularly effective barriers to entry, much more so than the standard fencing, so much so that when I was doing this work along the Cambrian coast, we were asked by the then Railtrack rep to leave a couple of metres of brambles or x-thorns along the fence line specifically for that purpose!


Indeed, one of the main reasons for vegetation control, along with improving sight lines at level crossings, especially remote pedestrian crossings with no lights or automatic barriers.

True, but I have often wondered if use could be made of convict labour to clear vegetation and rubbish from the trackside when the line is closed for engineering work.
A closed railway without any trains moving is a relatively safe place in which to put convicts to work.

Hear hear - may even give them skills for the future.

 A travelling acquaintance lives within 10 yards of the B&H line. He claims that the failure of Network Rail to clear vegetation from on-network ditches used for drainage resulted in his property being flooded.

Whilst I have sympathy for him being flooded (we got hit in 2007) as far as I know NR has no legal responsibility to clear ditches even if it impacts on neighbours properties - is this correct ?

An accident near Gillingham on the Salisbury - Exeter line in 2009 occurred when part of a cutting failed as a result of drainage issues; the train ran into a landslide on the track. There's a set of recommendations in the RAIB report (https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/411165/101028_R192010_Gillingham_Tunnel.pdf (https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/411165/101028_R192010_Gillingham_Tunnel.pdf)) about the maintenance of drainage, both on and off Network Rail's land.

I suggest that you forward this link to your acquaintance, and get them to point out what's happening to Network Rail.

Many thanks for that WP...as the acquaintance doesn't have an email account (yes, I know!) I think I will have to resort to printing it out :)

In answer to the question as posed - is there any legal duty to neighbours - this, from www.environmentlaw.org.uk (http://www.environmentlaw.org.uk/rte.asp?id=103), says "yes":

So it may depend on whether there was a natural watercourse through the neighbour's property, and that has been intercepted by drainage, but I imagine even that may have to be maintained if it has been in place long enough.

Many thanks for your replies everyone.  My understanding of my acquaintances problem was there is a drainage ditch on NR property which if it is cleared of overgrowth then his property is not affected at times of excessive rain.