Vegetation Control and Use of Herbicides

Chemical weed control is the most effective and cost-efficient maintenance measure to secure a weed-free infrastructure, as this is required to guarantee a minimum level of safety.
However regulatory pressure against usage of herbicides is constantly growing and there is a high risk of incumbent legislation. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared in March 2015 that one commonly-used herbicide “probably” causes cancer, following which there has been a significant increase in pressure from the public and regulators to prohibit its use. Further restrictions in the use of herbicides will substantially increase rail sector costs and may pose more serious problems for applications where there is no alternative technical solution.
Infrastructure Managers, chemical suppliers, regulatory bodies and other key stakeholders have to work together for a common understanding of the environmental impacts of herbicides and of the risks they present, and develop accepted management practices and alternative cost-effective solutions. A spectrum of different kind of alternative methods will be provided.