ProRail clearing away badger nests affecting train traffic in Limburg

From today until August 25, ProRail will be working to remove badger nests around the tracks near Voerendaal. No Arriva trains can run between Heerlen and Valkenburg during that time. Arriva will run buses instead.

Badgers have built nests in the railway embankment in Voerendaal, making the track unstable. “To prevent dangerous railway subsidence, we must remove these badger nests. ProRail has received an exemption for this,” the rail manager said.

In the past weeks, ProRail mowed the railway embankment, installed wildlife cameras, and laid wire mesh to see if badgers were still using the barrows. On July 24, the rail manager placed one-way gates on the nests' exits so badgers could leave but couldn’t go back in.

The rail manager then waited a week before starting the final phase of removing the nests. “Experience shows that this discouragement period is long enough for the badgers to find a safe place in the immediate environment,” ProRail said.

In the coming weeks, ProRail will very carefully partially remove the track and excavate the railway embankment. A veterinarian will be on standby so that if ProRail workers encounter a badger, they can move it in an animal-friendly way. “We will then restore the slope and rebuild the track.”

Once the railworks are over, ProRail will also place an artificial nest for the badgers to settle in.

“During the work, buses will run instead of trains between Heerlen and Valkenburg from 1 to 25 August,” ProRail said. “Travellers between Heerlen and Maastricht can travel via Sittard.”