Welcome To GTE Track Spray

Noxious Weed Control

Noxious Weeds

GTE specialises in the complete vegetation management of the railway corridors in various states across Australia. Underlying our business practices are the three internationally recognised standards of Safety, Environmental and Quality. You can read more about our standards by clicking here. GTE has various responsibilities that underpin our compliance to these standards.

Our recent works for one of our clients highlighted the need for specific treatment programs of noxious weeds in outlined target regions of the corridor. We worked with the environmental team to provide clear guidelines to the operations staff as to what chemicals and areas were to be treated to help control these target species. A toolbox meeting with our staff provided the forum for clear communication of the target species and biosite areas with our operations staff, who have successfully started the spray program for these areas throughout July, maintaining the combined goals of GTE and our client – noxious weed control without harming important vegetation in the various biosite areas.

Train Wheels On Track

Train Wheels On Track

In summary, these actions ensure no adjacent areas are treated with our chemicals nor any native vegetation receive off-target spraying/damage. This in turn keeps the areas looking great for the public and helps to control the spread of the noxious weeds into other regions that are currently free of these invasions. Apart from keeping these areas looking wonderful and weed-free, the treatments also ensure no overgrown weed collections harbor vermin and other hazards to the public, such as snakes or mice, hidden obstacles and hazards, such as large holes in the terrain. Where the weeds have the potential to grow in and over rail tracks, our preventative spraying programs ensure the tracks remain clear of growth, including as wide swathe outside the tracks, to avoid any potential risks such as derailing of train wheels – a potentially devastating event to all involved. This is why we take our work seriously.

Our operations staff use a variety of communication methods to keep all interested parties informed of our spraying rosters, and to coordinate our activities with train control, client project managers and environmental liaisons, and we employ the principle of ALTBFT (After the last train and before the first train) wherever possible to minimise the risk of interactions with the public and other train operations whilst spraying. All of these actions help to mitigate any risks involved with our services on a daily basis.