Beavers causing concerns for rail safety

Since the beaver has re-established itself in various parts of the Netherlands, ProRail has dealt with concerns about rail safety near water. The animals keep making dens in railway embankments, De Telegraaf reports.

"That can cause subsidence, and if heavy rain thunders over it, the situation can arise where the in the worst case a train can derail," ProRail regional director Dorothe Wennekendonk said to the newspaper.

"We've already had problems between Assen and Groningen, where their excavation work has led to the suspension of train traffic." According to Wennekendonk, contractors had to be called in to urgently strengthen the rail. "That has been necessary three times."

"We really want to find a structural way to prevent this," Wennekendonk said. The beaver population is growing rapidly, and they like to live in remote ponds and wetlands, where railway embankments can often be found.