Network Rail to undertake tree and vegetation cutting on the line between Stoney Brae and Ferguslie Park in Paisley from February to June 2022.

The work will be carried out in order to keep passengers safe and trains running on time, as overgrown vegetation can lead to obscured signals and also cause damage to passing trains.

The work will take place over a period of four months, starting on Monday the 7th of February.

The operation will see all woody vegetation within a minimum of 3m of the track cleared over the 2.5km of railway. Toxic and invasive non-native weeds like knotweed within the railway boundary will also be removed.

Tree’s within falling distance of the railway will undergo selective felling or cut-back in order to leave a balanced tree canopy. Heritage, landscape and specimen trees will also be reviewed using a case-by-case approach in order to retain them where safety allows.

Most of the work will be undertaken during the daytime, however, some work will need to take place on Saturday nights from early March through to June to allow the safe removal of the trees closest to the railway.

Before the work can be carried out, environmental surveys have been undertaken. Network Rail has also worked with their ecologists in order to keep the impact of the project on the environment to a minimum.

Those living close to the line have already been advised ahead in a 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.”