European railways - no fences!

[Gloster]

That's interesting because if we had no fencing law today and landowners started asking the government to pay to fence their cattle, they'd be laughed out of Whitehall surely. If farmers want to fence in their own cattle, why should government be paying for it, do they own the cattle? If the land is Crown Estate owned or possibly National Trust the case might be different but this is all hypothetical. I think the law came because the railway here was built before anywhere else and there were a lot of built up areas already by that time because of early industrialisation.

But the requirement to fence in railway lines dates back to the Railway Regulation Act of 1842 and in those days rural landowners had an awful lot of power in Parliament. Their farms and parks were there even before the railway and they could use their political muscle to get things that they wanted made law.

 

[neonison]

Fencing of UK railways was originally to prevent those using the trains from trespassing onto the land of the gentry, not to prevent the populace trespassing onto the railway.

 

[SephenWorceste]

Generally the issues here are caused by idiots at level crossings, rather than the line itself. There are two lines near my house, and nothing has happened in the nearly 10 years that I've lived here with people on the line, even though neither of them are fenced. I can't think of any recent incidents in Poland where someone's been hit by a train unintentionally, although there have been plenty of issues at level crossings with morons in vehicles.

To be honest, going back to the UK is quite a shock in terms of how lines are fenced everywhere. It's just not the done thing here, and plenty of unofficial paths that go over train lines exist. There are some fences near/next to stations, but as you can see from my local line below, huge swathes of track are simply unfenced.

View attachment 187793

Even inner city lines tend to be unfenced, although this is changing a bit with higher speed lines.



Yup, happens a lot at a bridge near me, although this is a consequence of the fact that there simply isn't any other crossing of the river for a considerable distance in either direction. There is a walkway, and it's perfectly safe to walk across the bridge, although PKP PLK seem to go through phases of banning it and then allowing it again.



On the other hand, the UK has far less problems with idiots at level crossings than Poland does.

Interesting to see. Do animals just avoid the track or move off for a train?

I am surrounded by sheep, cattle and horse in rural England. The line speed is 100mph. Even with fences we have occasional delays for animals on the track. I assume they find a gap in the fence.

I guess the one of the most securely fenced section of rail is the approach to the Channel Tunnel. It is noticeable as the train passes through on the French side.

 

[Amalie]

Interesting to see. Do animals just avoid the track or move off for a train?

In the Netherlands, and I’m presuming some other countries, the farmland around tracks tend to be for crops. Usually there’s at least some bushes/gras to separate it from the track.

The areas intended for animals are either fenced off or have a canal between, not quite different from fencing off a field from a road. But more often than not, the farmer simply uses another field further away from the tracks.

 

[fandroid]

Things have changed in GB agriculture. Livestock farming had always been a big thing due to relatively mild winters allowing year-round grazing. Most farms were mixed with livestock and crops rotating around the same land. Also, the railways came in during the heyday of the Inclosure Acts, when the original shared open field systems were replaced by farms made up of smaller fields each delineated and separated from their neighbours by new hedging/fencing as laid down in the Acts. Fencing was high fashion at the time!

Now, many farms are just arable (crops) or livestock. The former need almost no fencing, although the UK's addiction to barbed wire (rarely seen in continental Europe) continues even where its original justification disappeared long ago.

 

[35B]

That's interesting because if we had no fencing law today and landowners started asking the government to pay to fence their cattle, they'd be laughed out of Whitehall surely. If farmers want to fence in their own cattle, why should government be paying for it, do they own the cattle? If the land is Crown Estate owned or possibly National Trust the case might be different but this is all hypothetical. I think the law came because the railway here was built before anywhere else and there were a lot of built up areas already by that time because of early industrialisation.

But the requirement to fence in railway lines dates back to the Railway Regulation Act of 1842 and in those days rural landowners had an awful lot of power in Parliament. Their farms and parks were there even before the railway and they could use their political muscle to get things that they wanted made law.

Absolutely this. Railways in Britain were privately promoted, and they needed landowners (often the same landowners whose land they were crossing) to vote for their project in Parliament. The requirement to fence the railway was to protect the landowners' interests, and was a cost for those promoting the railways.

 

[route101]

Noticed in Romania and the Balkans people walking over the tracks outwith the stations. Never seen this in Poland, Germany, Austria etc.

 

[SephenWorceste]

In the Netherlands, and I’m presuming some other countries, the farmland around tracks tend to be for crops. Usually there’s at least some bushes/gras to separate it from the track.

The areas intended for animals are either fenced off or have a canal between, not quite different from fencing off a field from a road. But more often than not, the farmer simply uses another field further away from the tracks.

Thank you for the information. Seems a sensible approach.

 

[John-H]

In South Africa, it was common to graze cows on the shoulders of roads and railways. On the railway, there was usually a herder with them to keep them off the tracks, but on the highways, they were on their own.

 

[Gordon]

Whilst looking for examples from my own huge archive of Swiss railway photos, I actually found this photo on an upload site. It is quite useful. It shows how the fence is not really a 'railway' fence but more of a landowner's fence. It is presumably maintained by the farmer to mitigate against any livestock straying from the fields further away from the track

https://bahnbilder.ch/pictures/xxlarge/29651.jpg

I should also point out that Swiss field fencing is often not permanent. Travel around Switzerland in spring and you will see farmers erecting electric fences round an empty field in preparation for the livestock being let out of the barn for a summer in the fields.

In this photo, the nearest field is a wild meadow, so no fence needed, but it looks like there is a fence on the far side, nearer to where there are some farm buildings

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49971536056_61c971a282_b.jpg

And by the way the train is hardly trivial - a long and heavy trans-Europe container train with 2 x BLS 465; the two locos in this photo are roughly the equivalent power of 5 1/2 BR Deltics!

 

[Belperpete]

When I was working in Stockholm, my walking route into work involved crossing several sidings and a metro line, all unfenced. They were also digging up the land outside our building, and would stop occasionally to let people walk through under the JCB's raised bucket. UK health and safety would have had a fit.

It is interesting that none of our colonies followed the UK's precedent in requiring their railways to be fenced. Probably because the early colonial railways were often sponsored by the government for military or geopolitical reasons, and the government wanted them built as quickly and cheaply as possible. Whereas in the UK the railways were being promoted by private companies for profit, so the government didn't have the same vested interest and could be lent on by the lords.

What is the requirement in Eire? I am presuming that it would be the same as the UK, inherited from pre-independence. However, weren't there a lot of lines that were government sponsored for geopolitical reasons, particularly the narrow gauge lines running through the middle of nowhere.

What is the situation with canals? Most towpaths in agricultural areas seem to be fenced off - are these fences owned by the canal companies or the farmers?

 

[43096]

And by the way the train is hardly trivial - a long and heavy trans-Europe container train with 2 x BLS 465; the two locos in this photo are roughly the equivalent power of 5 1/2 BR Deltics!

Given that diesel loco power is normally given as engine output and electric loco is power at rail, it’s more than that - something like 7 x a Deltic?

 

[izvor]

This thread is currently active on the UK situation.

 

[Panceltic]

Just wanted to share this fragment from a cult Polish movie "Day of the Wacko" - the character boards the train whilst it is still in the sidings, before moving to the station and starting its journey, in order to secure the "best" seat.

 

[NCT]

Generally those are sound barriers, rather than fences. Even the new high speed lines aren't fenced in the countryside in Germany

That is true, though sound barriers on German railways are so ubiquitous they are almost just as much an 'obsession' as fencing is in Britain.

Just witnessed today that (properly) rural sections of the Erfurt - Bamberg HSL have no fencing/barriers whatsoever.