In Esch, badgers have undercut the track, so that the safety of train traffic can no longer be guaranteed.
The castle in the railway embankment has now been almost completely excavated, but no badgers were found, which are a protected species in the Netherlands. A badger sett found ensures that Prorail has its hands full to find a solution for the train traffic that has failed between Eindhoven and Den Bosch.
On Thursday evening, March 23, ProRail received the exemption from the Netherlands Enterprise Agency to repair the track at Esch. The work started in the early morning of Friday 24 March. When badgers are found, they are anesthetized and collected. This is done under the supervision of a veterinarian and ecologist. The Das & Boom foundation is closely involved in dismantling the badgers' burrows and organizes the shelter of badgers that may still be found.
shy
Badgers are naturally shy animals that are mainly active at night. This makes them vulnerable to human activities and disturbances, such as hunting, traffic accidents and habitat destruction. Badgers play an important ecological role as excavating and bottom-dwelling species, but if their place of residence is located below the railway, then that is bad news for Prorail, NS and travelers.
"A total of 25 corridors have been excavated. The badgers themselves seem (fortunately) to have moved. We will be working hard in the coming days to further restore the track!"
"We were able to do a lot today and have made considerable progress with the (Das-friendly) excavation. It's a big job, but the toppers of @ASSETRail, among others, keep working hard"
The scope of the work is also becoming increasingly clear at the Frisian Molkwerum. Badgers have also caused great damage here. It is therefore a lot of work for Prorail to repair everything, much more than for Esch in Brabant. The Frisian railway embankment is different from the one in Esch. With five meters much higher and therefore with much more volume. The badger sett is also much deeper than at Esch. This probably makes the Frisian excavation work much larger than in Brabant.
