Railway networks create significant wildlife welfare impacts through collision mortality, habitat fragmentation, and barrier effects on animal movement.
Railway networks present a dual welfare reality: they cause direct mortality through collision and electrocution, while also creating linear habitat strips that support wildlife in agricultural landscapes. The welfare priority is reducing collision mortality, which can be substantial for deer, wild boar, large carnivores, and ground-nesting birds. Acoustic deterrents, wildlife fencing, and underpasses with appropriate substrate can significantly reduce collision rates. The connectivity role of railway verges as wildlife corridors should be actively managed rather than treated as maintenance nuisance.