SNCF Réseau ramps up Vegetation Control Technology

French railway network operator SNCF Réseau, has enhanced its vegetation management operations in response to unseasonable overgrowth, incorporating a state-of-the-art spider excavator to improve track maintenance. With an allocated budget of between €6 and €7 million for the year 2022, the company has ramped up its activity through the deployment of the spider excavator machinery which allows for seamless operations in areas with steep gradients.

“The rains which marked the month of July and the beginning of August favour the growth of significant amounts of vegetation, beyond seasonal norms,” a spokesperson for SNCF Réseau commented. “As a result, an action plan has been put in place to strengthen vegetation control operations and ensure the continuity of traffic railways in complete safety, on all axes and for the benefit of freight and TER trains.”

Supported on the ground by approximately 40 agents, the track maintenance work in Normandy, focused on vegetation management. Collective efforts resulted in the felling of an average of 9,000 hazardous trees annually on the local network, while simultaneously avoiding wildlife nesting periods.

Elsewhere on the group’s network, five weeks of continuous work related to the EOLE project came to an end on Monday. Upgrades at the Mantes-la-Jolie site have now been carried out, including the renewal of tracks at Mantes-Station, enabling improved regularity of trains.

“The figures speak for themselves: 20% fewer minutes lost in July 2023 compared to July 2022, when EOLE works were also taking place. These good results were allowed by the mobilization of the SNCF Réseau teams throughout these five weeks,” Vincent Palix, Territorial Director SNCF Network Normandy, said.