Tube Lines has today become the first railway company in the UK to eradicate Japanese Knotweed (fallopia japonica spp), thanks to a pioneering weed killer (Tordon).

Large swathes of London’s green corridor are now free from the alien menace thanks to the work carried out by Tube Lines in successfully clearing it from the 150 km of trackside embankment along the Jubilee, Northern and Piccadilly lines for which it is responsible.

Now clear of knotweed, Tube Lines’ embankments will provide safe ‘green corridors’ for wildlife to travel between habitats and will help support the capital’s bats, badgers, snakes, birds, insects, plants, trees and flowers.

Steve Judd, Head of Environment at Tube Lines said: “Tube Lines is proud to be a leader in tackling the Japanese Knotweed problem without resorting to costly, time-consuming, and environmentally damaging methods. This approach also significantly reduced Tube Lines’ carbon emissions for 2008 and 2009. We are continually striving to improve our environmental performance and the eradication of this pest is an important milestone for us and the community.”

In total, 196 individual sites have been treated, clearing some 17.2 hectares of land in less than two years – as opposed to the ten years required for traditional methods of on-site treatments.

Tube Lines is keen to share this innovation with other major landowners / operators and has so far met with Brent and Barnet Councils, Network Rail and London Underground and Overground. The UK has in the region of 1,800 native plants and a further 70,000 garden plants, many of which are threatened by the introduction of non-native species.

As well as speeding up the process for treating knotweed, there are also significant environmental and cost benefits to this form of treatment. Fewer chemicals are used in its production and significant carbon savings are made through not having to excavate and transport large volumes of soil to landfill.

All works have been delivered on time within the agreed £275,000 budget. Traditional methods such as herbicide treatment and dig and deep cell burial would have cost circa £5.7m and £14.5m respectively – a massive saving for Tube Lines as they continue to drive through efficiencies in the way they carry out their work.

The Japanese Knotweed eradication programme has been shortlisted as a finalist in the 2009 UK Green Business Awards to be held in November 2009. Hosted by the Ends Report, the awards recognise businesses that implement the most innovative and ambitious initiatives for achieving environmental sustainability. Tube Lines is also a finalist in the Overall Environmental Management – companies with over 250 employees – category.