Railway line trees cut back

Maintenance programme starts

People living along the railway line in Rutherglen and Cambuslang may have to live with months of disruption as workers kick- start a four-month programme of maintenance.

The programme, to cut back vegetation along the Glasgow to Motherwell route, started on January 28 and will be carried out at night every weekend until Sunday, April 30.

The work will begin at 11.30pm on Saturday and finish at 7.30am the following morning.

All households which NetworkRail believe will be affected by the noise have been issued letters explaining the reasons for the work.

It states: “Line-side vegetation can obscure signals, get blown on to the tracks, or grow to an extent where our staff do not have a safe place to wait whilst trains pass. We will be removing any potentially dangerous line-side trees and plants, prioritising areas that pose a significant safety or performance risk.

“To undertake these works we will use a variety of equipment that can include chainsaws, flail machines, chipping machines, or handsaws. Where suitable, logs and branches will either be left to create a safe habitat for wildlife, chipped and spread evenly or will be completely removed from site.”

The letter adds: “Work will often be required to be take place when trains are not running, but every effort is made to keep controllable noise to a minimum and our staff will be briefed on working responsibly in the local community.”

A wildlife survey will be completed to identify any protected species, or nesting birds, before works start. If protected species are identified appropriate measures will be put in place to ensure they are kept safe.

We will be removing any potentially dangerous line-side trees