ProRail will spray less with the controversial chemical glyphosate, but will not (yet) abandon it | RTL News

Glyphosate is the main ingredient in the most controversial pesticide in the world: Roundup. It is used to kill unwanted plants – which then turn a characteristic yellow. Stories have been circulating for years about the dangers of this drug, including concerns that it can cause Parkinson’s.

The substance is no longer in products for sale in garden centers. Many municipalities and provinces have banned glyphosate and Rijkswaterstaat also stopped using it a few years ago. Some rail operators abroad have also abandoned it, such as Deutsche Bahn and the French SNCF.

Ballast bed and inspection paths

It is striking that ProRail still uses the substance to this day, as can be seen from the yellow strips along the track. 2000 kilos of glyphosate per year passes through it, to be precise. In total, farmers in our country spray about 150,000 kilos of this substance. This creates the image of the yellow fields.

Inspection paths

Prorail sprays glyphosate as weed control on inspection paths along the track. To a lesser extent it is used on the so-called roadbed. A fraction is used to combat invasive exotic species such as Japanese knotweed.

Organic farmer Jan Overesch has been concerned about ProRail’s use of glyphosate for years. Every year he sees how the grass along the railway between Zwolle and Raalte turns yellow. Note: next to his poison-free field. “You can easily do without this drug,” he sighs. “We do it too. Yes, it may cost a little more maintenance. But it is possible. You could also look at a different design, but ProRail has no problem with everything.”

Yet the railway manager appears to be taking the criticism seriously. The use of the substance will come to an end ‘in phases’ in the coming years, says spokesperson Jeroen Wienen. “We are stopping the use of chemical herbicides, because we see that these products have negative effects on people and the environment.”

New contracts

New contracts entered into by the railway manager with contractors state that the use of glyphosate is no longer permitted in water extraction areas, groundwater protection areas and Natura 2000 areas. From 2026, all areas of NatuurnetwerkNederland will be added. This should result in a saving of several hundred kilos of glyphosate per year, up to 400 kilos of savings in 2027.

In 2028, ProRail will stop using the entire track in the Netherlands, but the company will keep a close eye on this: ‘provided alternatives are available’.

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Already promised before

It is not yet possible to say whether the railway will be free of glyphosate in 2028. It is not the first time that such a commitment has been made. In 2019, the goal was ‘complete phase-out’ by 2025. Even then, an escape route was mentioned: ‘provided current pilots are successful and usable and feasible alternatives come onto the market’.

Are those alternatives available now? Last year, ProRail conducted tests with two options at seven locations in the Netherlands. This includes a product that gives the weeds a cold treatment. Another alternative is pelargonic acid. This is used when other treatments prove inadequate.

The rail manager talks about ‘promising results, but not yet sufficient to serve as a complete alternative’. This year the company will continue with more extensive trials in collaboration with the Belgian railways and the global rail organization UIC.

Margriet Mantingh of the Pesticide Action Network (PAN) has mixed feelings about ProRail’s intentions. Better late than never, she says. She would prefer that glyphosate be banned everywhere today. “It is a water pollutant. We find the residual product of glyphosate in all surface waters. Also in water extraction areas.”

The fact that the European Union recently decided not to ban the substance does not mean that the drug is safe, says Mantingh. According to her, virtually no account was taken of the effect on biodiversity during the authorization.

She wonders why it takes so long for ProRail to abandon glyphosate. “ProRail has had a very long trial period. It now stops in nature reserves, but why not everywhere?”

Lifespan

ProRail says that the path next to the tracks must be accessible to rail employees, emergency services and travelers in the event of an evacuation. The ballast bed must be free of vegetation for track stability and track life.

In many other countries, grass and weeds can simply grow between and around the track, says Mantingh. “If you have a regular, regularly used railway network, then you are not bothered by those weeds. They have no chance of becoming large. And why does the inspection path necessarily have to be weed-free?

‘Good to hear’

Eric Mahieu of the Zeeland Environmental Federation (ZMf) thinks it is ‘good to hear’ that ProRail plans to stop using glyphosate. He had previously been critical of X.

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Pelargonic acid

Mahieu does have some comments on the alternative of pelargonic acid. That is the same active ingredient that is currently in Roundup for consumers. “This substance acidifies the soil and leaches out, causing it to still exceed drinking water standards. It may be better and, according to the semantic meaning, perhaps not a chemical, but simply a liquid weed killer.”

ProRail also says: exchanging glyphosate for another pesticide, as the German and French rail managers have done, is not necessarily the ambition. It is preferable not to spray at all. Where possible, mowing or hoeing takes place.

Danger of subsidence

In other sectors weeds are also controlled with hot water, steam, hot air, electricity, or by burning. These options are not always possible on and around the track. For example, large heavy machines cannot drive on the paths due to the risk of subsidence. In addition, cables and train protection must not be damaged.

Chemicals will continue to be used in some places in the coming years to ‘guarantee safety’. “We spray these products in a very targeted manner at the weeds we want to combat,” ProRail promises.

Organic farmer Jan Overesch from Raalte calls on the railway manager to do everything he can to ban all chemical pesticides as quickly as possible. Because with all those rail kilometers, ProRail can ‘make an enormous contribution to biodiversity’.