GROWING Problem on Britain's Railways
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- čas přidán 20. 08. 2024
- What is one of the growing problems on the UKs railway network? You can't miss it, it's absolutely everywhere and spreading at epidemic rates! It's called Buddleja (or Buddleia), that green leafy bush with purple flowers. Also known as Butterfly Bush because of the attraction to it from butterflies, it grows in any crack or crevice it can find. It destroys walls and masonry with its roots as well as underground cables. Once established, it can be very difficult to eradicate. One of the worse places to have suffered is Brixton in South London where the railway bridge is covered in Buddleja!
British Railway: _e x i s t s_
Butterfly Bush: *_IT’S FREE REAL ESTATE_*
LOL Nice Meme
Old wall with a crack in it: exists
Buddleja: mine!
Nois
In Australia we learned this lesson 150 years ago. Blackberries, Gorse, rabbits, foxes, Prickly Pear, and so many others. Which is why we have maintained the tightest quarantine rules in the world. Any foreign plant or animal or pathogen has the potential to be a disaster. We would have called this a "noxious weed" and ordered all landholders and property owners to destroy it on sight.
The UK badly needs tougher regulations in that respect. Buddleia is only one of many nuisance plants that are growing out of control in the UK and causing problems. Still I guess we won't do anything as a preventative move. Only once the cost of previous inaction becomes headline news will we take it seriously.
And also released myxomatosis into the wilds of the world...
(Ok, Australia is admittedly good at the quarantine thing.)
Oh, we've had our mistakes, that's for sure. Australia is not perfect: the most infamous example was the introduction of the cane toad to control sugar-cane beetles. That was a major miscalculation by the Sugar Research boffins at the time (1935).
smitajky
Luckily we don't have foxes, but its hard trying to keep up with getting rid of the blackberry bushes on our property. Dad reckons he would like to ''have a word'' with the idiot who introduced it here in the first place.
When did the Cane toad arrived n Oz?
It's 10 past 9 on a Friday evening and I'm watching a video on the problems of Buddleja on our railways.
I know how to live life in the fast lane.
01:40 am on a Sunday night here. Someone stop me I'm out of control!
Its also 1.40am here. Oh and I live in Australia
21:40 Saturday nught 😂
0812 on a Sunday morning.... its no hangover cure
haleyscomit1 I live in Cromer. Bye.
The most worrying aspect has got to be the brickwork damage. Not good to see.
Hertog von Berkshire absolutely. It's not just on the railways either. The amount of beautiful old buildings you see with the stuff growing out of brickwork, slowly pushing it apart, is tragic.
@@spencerwilton5831, yeah I guess your're right. I'll be on the lookout for it now.
Hertog von Berkshire very few people look up at buildings these days and so these things grow to ludicrous sizes before anyone notices them.
Did it destroy the brickwork? or was it abandoned and not maintained?
@@iancampbell6925 just lack of maintenace. Despite plants (and lichens, worms and other living things) can contribute to both physical and chemical weathering. But this takes thousands of years. Therefore, it is just neglect. (Carelessness is a sign of social decadence and slumber)
This excellent video should be made compulsory viewing for all Network Rail employees, but most specially the Board of Directors. If the damage is not stopped early, the eventual costs will be very high indeed. To allow this damage to continue to the Railway infrastructure is madness.
If the Shareholders of these Railway Companies couldn't give a toss, why would their Board of Directors????
And it,s not just the overgrown vegetation , look on Y T rail vids of all the stuff left behind after doing a job , safety barriers , sacks of ballast , rails , warning tape , the list goes on , don,t give a toss , god knows what foreign visitors think , sorry but lazy b------s
Richard Heade You are absolutely right. Network Rail has no shareholders to hold it to account.
@@ThermoMan it does they are called taxpayers!
John Airey I take your point but my comment was in response to the earlier one which suggested that NR has shareholders financially influencing a board of directors. Unfortunately that financial leverage is not present. NR has one shareholder - the Government. Influencing NR as an individual taxpayer is very difficult!
I'm a driver on one of the networks you highlighted here, the foothold this plant has established around the Brixton area is ridiculous!! On the Atlantic lines there's one bush that's so established itself in the cess that it's become a small tree, the trunk is so thick now. On the Catford Loop around Loughborough Junction the train scrapes the lineside bushes as we drive by, very likely dispersing even more seeds. I do worry about the condition of the brickwork of the viaducts, I'd imagine the root system must work itself deep into the brickwork. I honestly don't know why Network Rail don't have a regular program of spraying these bushes with herbicide to at least check their growth, they just seem to get cut back every now and then...
Oh😗
Butterflies butterflies
I have seen the state of the Horsley Fields viaduct in Wolverhampton. I hope somebody does something to tackle the problem before in is a write off.
It's not a buddleja problem, it's a lack of maintenance problem.
Tiger313NL prevention is better than cure.
Buddleja, especially the kind that grows on the railways is incredibly rapid growing, and very prolific. It can easily grow 6-8 foot tall in a single growing season after being cut back.
@@98dizzard I work in maintenance of parks and green spaces, I know how a buddleja grows and propagates. We prune them back to about 30cm in spring, and they're 2m tall shrubs in summer. But if they grow in places we don't want them to grow, we pull them out of the ground. That would probably be more difficult in some areas, like on the spots pointed out in this video, but it can be done. Seems apparent to me that the company who maintains the British rail network doesn't seem to care enough to actually do something about it. It's all about the money, of course.
Tiger313NL True. They complain abt the growth but heaven forbid should anyone mention spending money to cut it back or eradicate it.
Well said. All we get from the DfT and Britain's railways are a load of excuses. The problem is solvable, so why is it allowed to continue?
They were declared a national weed plant in NZ and therefore it was illegal to distribute. Lovely plant, but too troublesome.
*Sad to see a once great empire in such a deplorable state of decay....*
Is that a comment about the railways or the UK as a whole?
@@97SEMTEX The UK as a whole... the country was devastated by its defeat in WW2 and has never recovered.
They need to reintroduce track work gangs, so that gang is responsible for the area of track designated to them, they could maintain the track, try and remove graffiti and general maintenance
Yeah people doing community work, maybe.
Free people, paid full benefits, and living wages would take pride in doing a great job keeping those rights of way clean and well maintained. Semi-slave labor would do a sucky job and get out as fast as they could.
Make prison work gangs clean it up maybe when they get out they wont be so quick to mess it up or get in trouble again ?
could be how about putting the cane and birch back in the jails ?? works well in Singapore !!
We had this problem once before and it's not just simply a matter of one plant. At the end of British Rail days and the beginning of privatisation, all sorts of vegetation, shrubs and trees were growing at an alarming rate all over the railway system. Railtrack (Network Rail) were given a roasting by the operating companies and did clear up a lot of it but it took years. The past couple of years have seen a return to this problem and NR don't seem bothered about it - they have even resignalled tracks that are almost impossible to see through the foliage! Drivers have complained but, I don't think that any have taken any major action even though there is a real safety risk. There is no excuse for any of this and it must be dealt with immediately!
Yes you are right to highlight this. Network Rail is inept and lazy. The lineside is a disgrace. And ultimately there will be a collision, derailment or structure collapse caused by their mismanagement when vegetation obscures a signal or destroys brickwork.
And also the crap left behind after a job
david beckett Good point!
The Flying Scotsman is gonna become a garden train set.
HAHAHAHAHAAAAA
I know that Buddleia is a massive problem on the railways (and elsewhere) but I have to admit that it’s ‘nicer’ to look at than the graffiti that also features in this video!
worldcraft kerncraft I certainly believe graffiti to be ‘visually destructive’ of ANY environment, much more so than a plant! Having said that, it would be good if a really effective weed-killer could be found to deal with BOTH Buddleia and Knotweed!
As someone with alergies, I strongly disagree. (It's not that I'm allergic to it, it's just that allergies make me hate all uncontrolled plants in cities.)
@@56independent42 Graffiti is destructive to the eyes, the mind, and the soul. A plant may damage some items, but those items can be repaired and if the plant is pretty to look at, it might just be worth it. Control the plant if need be, but don't hate the plant and love the graffiti. I'd much rather look at a flowering plant than "a light drizzle of paint" that looks like shit.
@@56independent42 Given that plants are beneficial for the environment do animals, how on earth could you even say that graffiti is less damaging?
Just the act of using an aerosol alone is extremely harmful to our environment.
@@56independent42 But a plant isn't LITERALLY destroying the earth like Grafiti is.
Think how much CO2 and former harmful toxins are crated making aerosols.
Now let's see how much is created from q plant.
Oh yeah, they don't destroy the ozone or require earth minerals to be mined and drilled.
The plant is destructive to US but not to the environment or the world.
Fascinating video Morthren 👍. I've always turned a blind eye to vegetation around the UKs transport network. However, this video has significantly changed my opinion. It definitely seems like an ever increasing problem and unless it's tackled the 'buddleja' looks like it will get far worse and damage important equipment.
Thanks! It's been something that I've been noticing more and more of lately so thought it needed a video on it.
UK Level Crossings Channel
It's why "leaves on the line" is a real problem. In the days of steam, the vegetation was kept well clear of the lines to prevent sparks setting light to it and fires spreading to crops.
With diesel and electricification nobody bothered to keep the verges clear. Trees grew and the leaves fall onto the tracks, mould grows and the trains' brakes no longer work.
At least there's a logical process there. Goodness knows what that business with the wrong sort of snow was all about.
It's the fault of the railways for not properly maintaining their property and infrastructure. The plant is just doing what plants do, find some dirt, grow, and reproduce. That's nature. Leave a town empty of humans and nature will take it back in due time. All this video shows is that the railways are neglecting their property and the video creator apparently is taking it personally and hating on a plant.
Fabulous Sparkly Vampire Wizard
It's a non-native invasive species and does a lot of damage to buildings, not just railway property. There are many plants that start to grow on buildings but most wither and die and are never noticed as they take root in inaccessible places . Buddleias thrive and destroy mortar. This causes falling masonry and risks injury or death to people below. Because they grow in such places they are not noticed until the damage becomes apparent.
They have been put on the list of invasive species that cause problems along with Japanese Knotweed.
Yet garden centres still sell them as they are cheap to propagate and their customers are entranced by the thought of having lots of butterflies in their gardens.
Get some life. There are many serious problems than an invasive breed of plant. Europe has invasive species and complete demography of Europe is about to change and you are bothered about a plant. Hilarious!!
Just check the name of London's mayor and his views about terrorist attacks that happened after he became mayor!!
When I was young in the 60s/70s, central London was overgrown with Buddleia on bombsites. Development eventually kills it off, but left alone it will, as you say destroy brick walls. I suspect the clearance of so many track-side trees have made it worse, providing sunny ground which previously would not have been a suitable environment. It can be no coincidence that the spread has been so fast recently.
An interesting subject that I'm in two minds about..
It shows what damage long-term neglect can have on infrastructure. A small spend early on to stop Buddleia taking hold would prevent expensive structural renovation later.
However, railway land bordering permanent way is frequently a vital 'wildlife corridor'. Particularly in dense urban areas and the habitats provided by Buddleia are important for wildlife, endangered bees and other vital pollinators for instance.
One good thing about the many variations of cultivated Buddleia available is that most of them are bred to be non-invasive and nectar rich. Great for gardens.
Do please keep up the interesting videos.
In the days of BR the railways had a scorched earth policy on trackside maintenance, literally! It was common policy the use controlled burning on embankments and cuttings. Some of this was due to a need to prevent out of control fires being started by steam locomotives though.
You are quite correct. Look at any old photo of the linesides, roughly up to the 1970s, and the cuttings and embankments are clear of overgrowth. Aside from the obvious safety and infrastructure aspects, those open, sunny grasslands were much better for biodiversity than the near secondary woodlands on most linesides today. Within the last 2-3 years, though, I have noticed a more concerted programme of clearances happening, so perhaps the tide is turning again.
Back then, there was less lineside electronics such as signal and communication cables that are susceptible to damage from fire... As most of the equipment was point rods and wires but now, burning is not really possible or wanted now as it's a safety issue. The other out of control weed is what I call the bottle brush weed. I first saw it around forty years ago, only in the South of England and I the Isle of Wight but now, its everywhere including Scotland as it's seeds are blown up and down the railway lines by the trains. This battle is lost...
@@macjim It's not lost, but it has to be dealt with quickly and fully. The UK seems to be like Texas. If we neglect houses, infrastructure, buildings, the wild plants and animals start to take over again. And water wants to seep in at all times. Maybe it is a losing battle, but neither of us are lacking the resources of lack of labor or money. It's a matter of demanding that those things be properly allocated to better all of our lives.
@@macjim Controlled burning could be possible but it would be necessary to check the growth
around sensitive equpment first and do so for 2-3 years.
For the cabling, the dangerous thing would be rubbish but cables burried in earth or sand is rather well protected .
Another problem: do you want to risk starting a fire in a farmer's wheat field, or in the inner parts of a city ?
Fires which can easily destroy private property.
Fires can't control Buddleia as it can regrow from the roots. The same with cutting it back, cut it back and it'll grow back more vigorously - up to 4 or 5 feet in a single season
Be glad that you don't have Kudzu. That having been said, some years ago when the Corps of Engineers (the US Army's Corps of Engineers has responsibility for maintaining the Riverbeds in the US) recommended that the flood control stream beds (during the rainy season the riverbeds in Southern California go from dry, or mere trickles, to raging torrents) be cleared of all large vegetation, the tree huggers had a fit about destroying the 'endangered species' in the waterways . Until it was pointed out that the bamboo and other plants in the riverbeds (those that had not yet been paved) were all invasive nonnative spices, especially the bamboo, which is quite a pest plant hereabouts.
It's called "The Vine that ate The South" for a reason, lol. I know of several places here in Alabama that are absolutely covered over in Kudzu.
+freebrickproductions Kudzu is a PITA to get rid of. It will mess up your lawn mower and your weed whacker.
Kudzu is indeed a rather invasive plant that is hard to control, but it can be controlled. There's a patch of kudzu not too far from me that has been kept to that one parcel of land for decades. It has not escaped. It does get a little close to the road, but when it does, someone comes out and cuts it back. Many say honeysuckle is invasive, and it can be, but it too can be managed. The only time any "invasive plant" becomes a problem is when people stop controlling it. The same can be said with this plant and railways. If the plant is causing problems, that just means the railways are not maintaining the areas the plant has invaded well enough. They are not controlling the plant. If they don't want the plant, control it.
Kudzu is the worst invasive ivy! It has caused landslides in West Virginia after it kills trees on hillsides. Add to that, the Tree of Heaven that grows 6 feet or 2 meters a year.
I thought there were several goat herd operations in the US that were being used to control invasive plant species?
I like this. Good to see you trying out a new subject matter slightly out of comfort zone; it worked really well.
I live in a dry area in California where Buddleia's fairly popular as an ornamental, but we have to irrigate to get it to do anything, and it pretty much dies back to nothing in the Winter. Would not have guessed that it could be this invasive in a wetter climate!
Thank you for bringing this issue to the attention of CZcams viewers. Network Rail is determined to camouflage the rail network in this dreadful eye sore. Instead of coming out with ambiguous statements and promises they should carry out the basic tasks of cutting back overgrown vegetation, treating weeds and STOP NEGLECTING THE LINE SIDE!!
Matthew Stirling Network Rail cannot even clear up after themselves, old bits of rail and tubs of grease littered everywhere.
They are never going to to change the habits of a lifetime. On the upside, railway embankments are superb mini nature reserves.
Well done for making more people aware of not just the problem this plant is causing for places along railway lines but also any waste ground or area that it not used that much.
We keep being told to 'buy' Buddleia for our gardens because Butterflies love it - hence its nickname 'Butterfly Bush', but there are loads of other non invasive plants you can buy for your garden to attract Butterflies. Another plant that is invasive, but not quite on the scale of Buddleia (though Butterflies love it too) is Lilac. I have two Lilac bushes in my back garden, and tbh they're pretty invasive. They keep sprouting up new shoots all the time, and it's a real struggle trying to control it.
My advice to any keen gardener: DON'T BUY EITHER BUDDLEIA OR LILAC FOR YOUR GARDEN AS YOU WILL REGRET IT PRETTY QUICKLY. There are many other plants that Butterflies love, but which are not invasive. Buy them instead.
Wow, obviously I’m aware of the budleja but I didn’t know it was such a menace. I wouldn’t want to be the one that tells gardeners that their favoured bedding plant is nothing more than a weed. It’d be Garden trowels at dawn! 😂
A weed is simply an out of place plant or a plant someone doesn't want. A beautiful tulip in the middle of a grassy lawn is a weed, but in the flower bed, it's not.
Seedless Buddleia which grow as a natural variety and produces a flower but not seeds are available. This means gardeners can enjoy it as a garden plant without the seeds spreading and causing it to become a nuisance
Nice looking plant. BR should introduce it to every station!
I have heard that The RHS want Buddleia to be a notifiable weed.
Doing a quick net search, breeders have managed to produce sterile (well, 98% sterile) varieties, so if garden centres were encouraged to predominantly stock these, and in the meantime, gardeners encouraged to remove flower heads immediately after flowering, that aspect of the problem would be reduced.
Trackside, get busy with herbicides. If the workers wear protective gear, risks of exposure to the herbicide are reduced, and if they spray directly on the plants, the drift elsewhere can be reduced. Apparently, often the most dangerous part of a herbicide formula (and often the bit responsible for all the dire warnings about toxicity to wildlife) isn't the herbicide itself but the surfactants added to help the active ingredient get inside the plant and encourage dessication.
Interesting! We have a Butterfly Bush like these in our front yard here in the US and never knew it was a problem in other parts of the world. On the other hand, Kudzu vines are one of the worse invasive plants we deal with over here especially in the southeast states. It was introduced as a means of erosion control and quickly got out of hand. I've seen entire railroad cars overgrown with it if they're left standing still for too long.
These bushes really are invasive. The best example near me is the Severn Beach Line around St Andrews Road, where it considers it a home despite the 166s, 165s (sometimes 150s and 158s) smacking them hard.
No coincidence the obsession with killing insect friendly plants and the eco disaster of extinction in our butterflies and bees and other insects.. This is why i actively plant them in my garden, hopefully in time it will be an offence to kill off Buddleia, the same as it is with things like bluebells..
Many years ago, I trimmed trees for the city of Colorado Springs. The plague we fought with was the Chinese Elm... To us it was a “Weed” that we sought to destroy. (a daily battle) That shrub was EVERYWHERE!!!
Never mind the Buddleia - what about that graffiti! I know which one I prefer.
Butterflies like this plant! Also Bees!!
A beautiful weed...
Thank-you Morthren,
I've seen the railways spread many things from Birch trees to Giant Hogweed(Russian), Rhododendron and Japanese Knotweed, although this is not the only way these seeds spread.
Are the old paraffin-fuelled 'Weed-burners' not approved by the HSE anymore? That solved the problem of both withered plants(after weed-killing) and their seeds, like we used to do.
The railways are a mess in places with various invasive species now-a-days, I worry about the track-side/track-circuit wiring.
Coincidentally, my 'nice' neighbour has just planted some buddleja across my front garden fence this year, eventually trying to block all the view and the light out from my house, forcing me to move, they hope. Now I can tell my local council of the increasing threat of this invasive pest around this little town and maligned neighbours planting the stuff. Cheers.
Get yourself a supersoaker water gun and hose the plant with some roundup and diesel fuel.
It's right up there with Brazilian Pepper trees and in the USA, Kudzu "the vine that ate the South"! Good Luck! Looks like you've got your hands full!
I remember how they explained in Life After People, how Atlanta would become overgrown with kudzu in no time. Seems like it will be the same in London, except in purple!
In Australia we have a similar problem on the verges of our urban railways with morning glory (an invasive vine with purple flowers).
To be honest here, Translink NIRailways does control all types of unwanted plant and weed issues as I’ve never seen this plant anywhere along the lines on the Northern Irish network.
Lineside vegetation never used to be a problem. Embankments, cuttings and all lineside land used to be kept clear by gangs who took a pride in keeping their section tidy. Things like this never got the chance to take hold. Not so these days. No doubt it all comes down to money.
Too right
Thistle, the national flower of my native Scotland is considered a noxious invasive weed here in Minnesota.
Every year they cut them down around my workplace, yet as is their nature they grow back.
First step with any invasive species is to ban the sale, propagation, and distribution of the species. Then address where it is rampant worst first.
If you really want to turn heads, try sowing artichoke seeds. They'll think the thistles are turning into triffids.
Aaaaah! Now, I get it!!! They didn't mean more electrification when they said they wanted "greener railways".....😂
I worked for 17 years on the railway, 6 of those for a lineside vegetation contractor as a planner. The most serious issue at the time was not Buddleja but massive trees lining many routes in Kent in particular. Vegetation control had been neglected for many years due in part to successive cuts in funding by H.M.Treasury but also high level management decisions to direct resources to a crumbling infrastructure. Funding was improved in the early 2000s to address lineside trees and that was the focus for many years, certainly up to 2008/2009. The problem trees were mainly on the outer route and so any inner routes issues were largely ignored, just not economically efficient to address. As contractors we were always directed by our principal to the areas they felt needed attention. Delays during autumn due to leaf fall were seriously expensive to Network Rail and by dealing with tree growth they could mitigate the number of incidents and this was effective in the short and medium term, requiring continued maintenance. As of 2019 I was not aware of any dedicated contractor responsible for the 5 metre strip on any route. This was ditched by Network Rail around 2009 in favour of parcels of location specific contracts. So the gains made in the first half of the decade are being allowed to slip away.
Instead of proper continuous maintenance and patrol by lengthsmen, Network Rail waits until there is a big problem. It's poor management by desk-bound and distant managers who rarely put a foot outside.
(My son does contracting work)
The problem with privatization is tax payers money going to private companies who care more about share holders than doing their job propperly.
Does anyone know of the UK's policy on invasive plants? Selling the plants sounds like no policy.
Other than Japanese Knotweed, the UK is very lax. If anything, the UK pretty much encourages exotics. If you walk around many towns in Cornwall, the dominant street planting is almost entirely exotic, some of which (Bamboo, Pampas grass) are hugely invasive and persistent. It's beautiful, and I'm kinda glad that we are given that leeway as I love to have them around, but yeah... the rational side of me knows it can't be good.
Complete lack of care by British Rail. The longer it is left like that the more evasive it gets. Root damage to brick building, bridges ect, should have been tackled long, long ago.
This Should be published in every British newspaper to embarrass the government and British rail and keep on reporting about until they do something about it.
BR ran toxic weed killer trains. Tocs and NR don't give a shit
@@highdownmartin To be fair the TOC's don't own the track so it's nothing to do with them, all they do is run trains on track that they rent!
Seamus Doherty hold my hands up to that. Tocs don't give a shit about many things but lineside vegetation isn't one of them. And NR have their hands tied these days, BR used to use organo phosphates I think which is a relation to nerve gas, gulf war syndrome etc,
Plenty of stuff in private eye on people pets and gardens being poisoned by the weed killer train passing by.
For me its not a problem unless it effects a buildings structure, its good for wildlife and covers that horrible graffiti. i have 2 in my garden and it attracts some beautiful butterflies
Having being a preservationist and remembered spent many a time in clearing plenty of the Stuff once cut down just had to burn what was cut down
Here in the desert SW (So. Nevada) we have a very similiar problem. This wild shrub is called oleander. Very hardy drought tolerant plant can find water like no other! Can crack PVC pipes in their quest.
The trouble with this plant is that the bees go potty for it so people use it to attract them! It's is very invasive but no were near as invasive as Japanese knotweed!
Lee Wildman in my country if you have not weed the law the Dept of environmental have to be called then it has to have a warning like a crime scene put around it hog weed is just as bad back in the early 80s seen a child destroyed over that stuff and with modern travel seed and people bringinf flowers it's just going to get worse
In the US we have ivy like Kudzu, that kill trees and cause landslides, and the Tree of Heaven, which can grow 6 feet or 2 meters a year!
Butterflies actually. It's nickname is the butterfly plant.
Typical British railways, lack of maintenance is the problem.
The removal of vegetation is the responsibility of state-owned Network Rail, money spent on this leaves less money to be spent renewing track - as the money is from UK tax payers the government controls how much Network Rail has to spend, what do you prefer, large scale vegetation removal and delayed trains?
Actually these plants are after you, they just too slow to catch you. Run Forest, run!
I have lived on a new development in Vietnam for 10 years and though all the building plots are sold very few are built on. I was one of the first to build and live in, those that are not have not and are not being farmed again, are being retaken over by mother nature. Block paving areas are full of growth with plants managing to get hold in just the joint of the paving, Trees have grown though the joint between the kerbs and asphalt road surface.
Some partly built structures have also been taken over, it's just like a modern day version of Anchor Watt. (Spelling ?)
The video is actually a fine exposition about Natural Selection. The plants grow anywhere and are hard to kill. Mother Nature 5-star award.
I live literally right next to the beginning of the steyning line and our whole road is infected with it
Well we have it growing all over the garden and it is fantastic to see all the butterflies on it. You don't need to buy any, just snap a woody piece off and shove the end into damp ground and it will usually root. You need to cut it back hard each year but it is wonderful for the wildlife.
It's not just railway's, it's everywhere.
Railways being destroyed by "the wrong kind of weed".
For the help of non-botanist an invasive species is one that can grow on land that can't support other plant life. Other examples are risebay willow herb and silver birch trees (both native to the UK and often found growing on abandoned track beds).
The Only use I found for buddleia is the dead wood makes for excellent kindling you can light it with a match no paper required
In the old days of the NY ONTATIO & WESTERN, the had an "oil train" which was a short train with an oil tank car. It would dispers hot #6 oil onto the center of the tracks, aswell as both sides through nozzles. It kept brush down, as we as people off the roadway....also helped prevent rot and deteriation of the ties......
Roundup, industrial strength. That will sort the problem. Do the railway not have sprayer trains to deal with weeds?
They do, but, for example, here in Germany it has to be some environmentally friendly stuff which doesn't do anything. You could really rather use cheap citrus ice tea for a better effect.
They do but that only works on the track bed and does nothing for the outer faces of bridges, retaining walls, platform structures etc. NR seem to think so long as the trains aren't physically striking the greenery then it's not a problem but that is a very short sighted view IMO.
Boiling water, steam, or even fire, are all more environmentally friendly alternatives to using chemicals in an urban area.
@orbitaldildo Absolutely.
@@buddyclem7328 yep LPG powered brush burners, destroys the leaves, sends massive shock messages to the roots.
It's like Kudzu in the U. S. South. It's everywhere. It was brought in from Asia as cheap and easy ground cover to grow.
not planting any budggeja next spring
This plant certainly is better on the eye than ugly rusty unused rail sidings. It has beautiful perfume and is attractive to bees.
Just needs to be controlled and taken out in areas where it is causing a nuisance. Not really a first world problem !!
Those darn seeds. They ride the trains without tickets!
People seem to have very inflated opinion on the effectiveness of Roundup. It doesn't kill everything - for example you can spray it on things like lantana until the cows come home, as soon as you stop it grows again.
There are also medical and legal issues about it being a carcinogenic cancer causing health hazard.
I bought a house 18 months ago with two of these bushes in the garden. I'll have to make sure to chop them each year as they grow fast. They attract lots of butterflies in the summer months though which is good to see.
Hi, I work at Burton rail depot, 4 years ago it was completely covered in budd and birch, now its all but gone, 1.5 miles of sidings.
I’ve been on the railway up and down the uk the past few years and I see this plant so much I called it the railway bush in my head, so nice to know it’s got a name!
HOLY CRAP. I knew it was non-native but I had no idea it was invasive!! Geez mow that stuff down!
I can understand the overgrowth on sidings that are no longer used. But that growth on the brickwork of major structures like bridges and retaining walls is a real worry because it will doubtless cause damage and further deterioration to the structures that's potentially dangerous, not to mention expensive to repair. I notice NR has recently caused controversy by cutting down thousands of mature trees on the line side to combat "leaves on the line" problems yet they seem to almost ignore the buddleia issue which I would argue is potentially much more serious if not dealt with promptly.
Strongly suspect that the move to more environmentally friendly weed spraying solutions has brought us here \//\
Yeah you're right we should move back to what we had before and see the native bee population plummet to zero
officialmcdeath that’s nonsense it is Network Rail penny pinching
@@EM-yk1dw
Penny wise pound foolish. Paying up more for prevention a few times is far cheaper than penny pinching constantly. You're not saving much anyways.
Flame burners, and routine maintenance, this is a penny-pinching problem
Thanks. Now I know where I can steal buddleja!
Morthren, have you thought of sending a link of your video to Network Rail/RAIL magazine/or any other mag?
They may find it interesting that members of the public are starting to see the difficulties that the rail network is having with this invasive plant.
It,s not suddenly happened , they just hav,nt bothered controling it for years , same as lineside bushes and trees , the whole system is overgrown , all down to costcutting
There has since been one mention of it in RAIL Magazine (with a photo) but they didn't actually call it by its name
Answer..Total lack of maintenance over many years. Intresting thing is, I sent for a garden pack of 12 bushes from a garden centre. As soon as I saw one of them was Buddleja it went straight in the bin. It is a beautiful flower and attracts butterflies but it wans to take over the world.... Kill Kill Kill.....It's not gonna grow in my back yard.. lol... Just my opinion. No offence meant to those who want it.
They will have to do something to curtail the growth of that stuff and most likely others similar to it else the railway network will begin to look like an equatorial jungle patch.
Here in Western Canada it is Persian blackberries. I've seen blackberries litterally rip a fence to pieces in my parents back yard.
B of course attracts butterflies and they are useful but the B needs to be managed. Unfortunately, we have permitted it to spread without management. Maybe there is a non-toxic spray that can be applied to younger plants before they get a hold.
Buddleia is an interesting case. Yes, it is considered a an invasive species, however it does more ecological help than harm. Some people think that all alien species are bad for the environment, and that can be true, grey squirrels replace our native reds, many deer species cause harm to our forests and rhododendrons can be a plague on heath lands, (often you need to burn rhodo's to kill them). Buddleia is known as the butterfly bush for a reason, many species of butterflies and bees find this bush a food source during the summer months, both groups that are struggling to survive 21st century Britain. Do they cause harm to railways? I think that if there was a derailing or death because of these plants, this issue would be of a higher profile.
I know how hard it is to remove a buddleia, and in the wrong place, it can be a pain. However, there is little proof that it causes enough economic damage to fund a large scale buddleia removal scheme. Personally, I think it adds more than a little colour to our monotone urban railway system. As long as the plant doesn't compromise public safety, it isn't economically or environmentally sound to do anything major about this issue.
And to the gardeners who own buddleias in their gardens? Please remember to dead head them, or else you will end up with baby buddleias everywhere.
So you're saying you think people need to be killed either by falling masonry or derailments before NR should be taking the issue seriously?
Buddleia is so prevalent across the UK I don't believe the removal of it from important railway structures will have any ecological impact so you can't really argue it should be left there for ecological reasons. The felling of thousands of mature trees from the line-side is a different story however!
@@soundseeker63 I am saying that as buddleias are not a threat to peoples safety whilst traveling by train, I doubt that they will be removed on mass. Of course, a situation where there is a derailing or death would be terrible and I don't wish that on anybody. After a bit of research, I discovered a document by the Butterfly Conservation that said that budleia "has become increasingly relevant because wildflowers have become so depleted following habitat lossand the general lack of nectar sources in the countryside." With that being said, the cost of removing budleia's because of damage to property was at £961,000 per year (as of 2010, this has probably changed by now). Also, if they were to get rid of the shrubs, that would be difficult. As it would be both near the lines and the roots could potentially be wrapped around wires, removal could endanger the lives of the workers. Meanwhile, the RSPB state that budleia is an "Invasive shrub to be aware of". A fairly big statement from a UK wildlife charity.
So where does my opinion rest?
Budleias are beneficial in the correct place: gardens. If they are safe and good for wildlife on railways is debatable. Personally, I have nothing against them. But don't let that sway your opinion.
The document I mentioned can be found here:
butterfly-conservation.org/sites/default/files/1.bc-position-statement-on-buddleia-updated-2015.pdf
David King Wildlife butterflies and bees would have got along alright before this plant was introduced. Have a look at what introduced species of flora have done to Australia. Ex UK, now Australia.
@@jimcrawford5039 As I said above, buddleia is rare because of how beneficial it is to so many uk butterfly species. Yes, butterflies were fine before buddleia was introduced, but it is a rare sight to see so many individuals in one place, (about 50 on one plant in August). I do know that invasive species can be catastrophic to biodiversity, however buddleia is not one of those species. They can crowd a habitat and block out sunlight, restricting British plants growing, and this type of thing is a problem in the uk. Species should not be introduced to a new place, and it can cost billions (A$ 4 billion was spent on controlling non-native weeds in Australia), however buddleia has been a lifeline to many otherwise declining number of butterflies in the uk, (along with other things, such as good gardening practices where native plant species are being planted).
Great video!
There was a rarely used but active freight line in sheffield completely taken over by this plant it was eventually put to rest
In Romania most of the branches which were operated by the national railway company are now populated by buddleia and they look good because they cover every abandoned line from scrap people.
If a siding is not longer used then the plant should be left alone, on the other hand it should be removed from platforms, car parks and mainlines.
The seed from this plant is distributed in the slipstream of passing trains. as was fire weed in the past. Only adequate maintenance will control the problem. A bigger risk is the height some of the lineside trees have become. A tree with a height greater then its distance from the running gauge is a possible disaster waiting to happen. It is noticeable on Swiss railways running through areas with trees that there is a cut profile in the tree height profile increasing away from the running gauge.
And what did the 'sidings land' look like before it was levelled for the railway? If they had properly restored the space to its former state then it would have once again been an eco-friendly natural environment. If the railways can't afford proper maintenance their owners should reduce profits until they can! Now, if you want to talk about damage, look at the civic planting of ivy 'ground-cover'.
It should be outlawed so at least your local florist can't sell it.
The people living in some of the 'leafy' residential areas of California have recently been reaping the rewards of allowing vegetation to grow uncontrollably in urban areas. Fire is a serious danger where there is so much foliage and wood, so this needs to be dealt with and not left to run everywhere. All it needs is a very dry spell, even in the winter, for flames to spread through this stuff like, well, wildfire.
Here in the USA those bushes are called, "homeless shelter cover." Difficult to remove? ROUNDUP!
This has to be dealt with. Firstly by banning the sale of it and then government funding for the removal of it. It will cost more to deal with the longer it is left to grow unchecked and cause more damage. There are a lot of disused railways that need to be protected for future use.
looks like short sighted penny pinching - by not spraying it when it's small you get the worse job of spraying it when it's bigger and then having to remove the wooden trunks before they catch fire which I think is particularly likely in areas where vandals are active.
Buddleia totally destroys brick and masonry structures if allowed to take hold. Microscopic roots insinuate their way into hairline cracks of the brick courses and then grow to 50 to 75mm diameter of strong woody stem. By this stage there is only one thing that can be done - complete demolition and rebuild.
It seems a problem (I don't know if it is the same plant) in several places in Europe, not only in GB. For example, the yards and stations of the DB (Germany), once all "neat and clean", are now full of grass and weeds. I think the problem is in the prohibitions (or limitations) to use herbicides and due to the reduction of maintenance costs.
I think you are right
The word "decay" leaps to mind.
Try and grow it in the ‘ideal’ conditions of an ordinary garden and it’s not so easy! Dryish stone clippings and walls are the perfect ecology for it. It likes limestone, all over the quarries in Portland. On the other hand bees and butterflies love it. Sodium chlorate kills it stone dead.
Not sure if the plant is responsible for all the damage but it will take advantage of cracks and no doubt lead to more damage. It sure does love railway tracks, and it's left to it's own devices. I think if it's an issue deal with and spend the money required. Once it is under more control maintenance should not be so bad, as long as it's actually maintained and not left for another ten years. Somehow I wouldn't think this problem is beyond a solution.
It's awful, we have tried (without success) to get rid of it at our house, but it refuses to die. All we can do is to keep cutting it back before it flowers to stop the spread of seeds.
Im more concerned about all the graffiti thats covering everywhere on the rail network in London. Makes you wonder about the sort of people that are doing this. You really wouldnt venture out at night in those places if you valued your life.
Graffiti isn't likely to derail a train.
This is indeed a invasion made easier due to the UK railway infrastructure having a lack of investment in a now crumbling Victorian rail network.
The Bees and others love it, the railways are the best wildlife corridors we have.
New excuse from Southern Rail "Sorry but all trains CANCELED due to excessive flowers near the line"