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Friday 28 Jan 2022

Overnight tree cutting on railway line in Paisley

Region & Route:

Scotland’s Railway: Scotland

Network Rail will be carrying out tree and vegetation cutting from February until June on the line between Stoney Brae and Ferguslie Park in Paisley.

The work is needed to keep passengers safe and trains punctual as overgrown vegetation can obscure signals and damage passing trains.

From February 7 for approximately four months, all woody vegetation within a minimum of 3-metres of the track will be cleared along a 2.5km section of railway.  Any noxious and invasive non-native weeds, such as knotweed, within the railway boundary will also be cleared.

Other trees within falling distance of the railway will be selectively felled or cut-back to leave a well-balanced tree canopy. Heritage, landscape and specimen trees will be looked at on a case-by-case basis and will be retained where it is safe to do so.

Though the majority of the work can be carried out during the day, work will be needed on Saturday nights from early March until June to safely remove trees closest to the railway

Ahead of the work, environmental surveys have been carried out. We have also worked with our ecologists to minimise the impact of the project on the environment.

Those living closest to the line have been advised in advance by letter.

Kirsty Armstrong, project manager for the vegetation clearance work, said: “We have thousands of railway embankments and constantly work to manage trees and vegetation so that everything which grows lineside is safe and does not cause delays to trains. This keeps passengers safe and reduces risk for our neighbours.

“To keep trains running during the day, some work is unavoidably carried out at night for safety reasons. Our teams are always mindful of the impact their work can have on our neighbours and do what they can to minimise this. 

“We want to apologise in advance if anyone is disturbed by the work.”

If members of the public have any questions or concerns about this work they can contact Network Rail’s 24hr helpline on 03457 11 41 41.