Rail firm creates 100 habitats at stations

One hundred "Homes for Nature" have been created at railway stations across the Southern, Thameslink and Great Northern network to increase biodiversity.

Southern's parent company Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) and the Bee Friendly Trust have installed the habitats at 26 stations across East Sussex, Surrey, London, Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire.

Each site has two types of bird boxes, striped bee hotels for solitary insects, and hibernacula – shelters filled with timber and wood to give small animals and bugs a place to live.

Dr Luke Dixon, director at the Bee Friendly Trust, said: "The birdboxes, bug hotels and hibernacula will provide homes for hundreds of creatures and improve the habitats around these stations."

He added: "They will be of benefit not just to the creatures but to the rail users whose environments will be enriched."

GTR and the Bee Friendly Trust are planning to increase the number of habitats to 200 to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the modern railway.

Eloise Rowan, GTR's environment specialist, said: "We are committed to creating a railway for nature by enhancing biodiversity and encouraging nature recovery.

"Our Homes for Nature initiative is just one way we plan to support a thriving natural environment."

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