📋 Tender Overview
Endangered Great Crested Newts Are Being Better Protected If Found On The Railway During Upgrade Work Thanks To A Newly Launched Scheme To Help Them Thrive. Network Rail Has Teamed Up With The Newt Conservation Partnership To Quickly Relocate Railway Residing Newts So Work To Maintain Tracks And Run Trains Safely And Reliably DoesnT Grind To A Halt. The Slippery Amphibians Love To Make Their Homes Around The Railway, Living In Drainage Ditches And Nearby Vegetation, And Even Hibernating Under Sleepers. Previously When Found On The Infrastructure, Teams Have Had To Down Tools And Call In Specialist Ecologists To Fully Survey The Area And Apply For Special Licences To Continue Before Work Could Resume To Ensure The Rare Newts DidnT Come To Any Harm. While The Right Thing To Do, In Some Cases It Could Delay Projects By Weeks Or Even Months - Resulting In Higher Costs For The Taxpayer And Passengers And Freight Customers Having To Wait Longer For The Benefits Those Upgrades Bring To Journeys. Now, Thanks To An Expanded Licensing Approach*, Newt Habitats Are Extensively Mapped Before Work Starts, With Suitable Homes Nearby Either Restored Or Recreated With Clean Water Ponds**. Then If Newts Are Found On The Railway, That Habitat Is There Ready And Waiting For The New Residents So They Can Be Quickly Transferred To Their New Home In Just A Few Days - While Allowing Upgrade Work To Resume. Railway Staff Are Also Being Given Special Training To Spot The Different Types Of Newt So TheyRe Handled With The Utmost Care When Found On The Network. Jude Ward, Network Rail Environment Manager, Said: We Take Our Responsibility To Balance The Needs Of Wildlife On The Railway With Our Commitment To Run Trains Safely And Reliably Seriously, And This New Approach For Newts Is A Perfect Win Win For Both Us And Them. Previously WeVe Had To Wait For Special Licenses, Carry Out Months Of Surveys And Put Up Special Newt Fencing - Causing Delays And Costing Money. Now This Streamlined Process Developed With The Newt Conservation Partnership Means We Can Keep Work Progressing While Creating Alternative Habitats Nearby To Relocate The Newts As Soon As TheyRe Found, Providing Much Better Outcomes All Round. Dr Tom Tew, Ceo From The Naturespace Partnership, Said: Our Partnership With Network Rail Demonstrates How Strategic Licensing Can Support Both Infrastructure Delivery And Meaningful Nature Recovery. The Organisational Licensing Scheme For Great Crested Newts Helps Reduce Project Delays And Administrative Complexity While Ensuring Robust Environmental Outcomes. ItS A Fantastic Example Of How Organisations Can Work Collaboratively To Deliver Essential Infrastructure In A Way That Benefits Both People And Nature. Pete Case, Technical Director At The Newt Conservation Partnership, Said: WeRe Seeing Outstanding Outcomes, With 90% Of Mature Sites WeVe Created Or Restored Now Occupied By Great Crested Newts. Working With Network Rail Demonstrates What Can Be Achieved When Infrastructure Investment And Long-Term Conservation Ambitions Come Together. ItS A Partnership That Is Not Only Helping Great Crested Newts Recover At Landscape Scale But Also Creating Clean Water Habitats That Benefit Wider Freshwater Wildlife For Years To Come. At The Same Time, Network Rail Is Working Closely With The Newt Conservation Partnership And Environmental Firm Nature Space To Create New Habitats For Newts Each Time One Of Their Homes Is Disrupted. Already More Than 97 Hectares Of Great Crested Newt Habitat And 35 Ponds Have Been Created Across All Four Network Rail Regions In England, Benefiting Newts Alongside Many Other Freshwater Plants And Animals. Find Out More About The Species That Live Around The Railway Here - Biodiversity Around The Railway - Network Rail. More About The New Scheme And How It Works *Under Network RailS Organisational Licence, Which Involves Extensive Newt Habitat Mapping, Staff Are Able To Quickly Determine The Risk Railway Works Pose To Key Locations And Habitats. Newt Conservation Partnership Then Compensate For These Impacts By Creating Or Restoring New Habitat, Including New Clean Water Ponds, In Advance Of The Works. Accurate Identification Of Different Newt Species Is Also Vitally Important, Which Is Why Rail Workers Are Being Trained To Tell The Great Crested Newts Apart From Their More Common Relatives, As Well As Getting Tips On What To Do If One Of The Creatures Is Discovered. This Approach Has Been Used In Other Parts Of The Country But Has Now Been Implemented In The North West And Central Region, Spanning All The Way From London To Scotland, Across The Length Of The West Coast Main Line - The UkS Busiest Mixed-Use Railway. About Great Crested Newts **Great Crested Newts Need Clean Water Ponds And High-Quality Terrestrial Habitat To Thrive, But In The Right Circumstances One Female Can Lay As Many As 300 Eggs Each. Passengers / Community Members Network Rail National Helpline 03457 11 41 41 Latest Travel Advice Please Visit National Rail Enquiries Journalists North West And Central Media Relations Press Office Network Rail Nwcmediarelations@Networkrail.Co.Uk We Own, Operate And Develop BritainS Railway Infrastructure; ThatS 20,000 Miles Of Track , 30,000 Bridges, Tunnels And Viaducts And The Thousands Of Signals , Level Crossings And Stations. We Run 20 Of The UkS Largest Stations While All The Others, Over 2,500, Are Run By The CountryS Train Operating Companies . Usually, There Are Almost Five Million Journeys Made In The Uk And Over 600 Freight Trains Run On The Network. People Depend On BritainS Railway For Their Daily Commute, To Visit Friends And Loved Ones And To Get Them Home Safe Every Day. Our Role Is To Deliver A Safe And Reliable Railway , So We Carefully Manage And Deliver Thousands Of Projects Every Year That Form Part Of The Multi-Billion Pound Railway Upgrade Plan , To Grow And Expand The NationS Railway Network To Respond To The Tremendous Growth And Demand The Railway Has Experien
