After overgrown vegetation got their goat, Queensland Rail has decided to grab the solution by the horns.
QR on Monday said they were "not kidding around" after hiring 15 goats to remove tall grass and weeds on their regional rail network.
In a Queensland first trial, the organisation's new four-legged friends are grazing near Tully railway station in the state's far north.
If successful, goats will be used at other regional locations throughout the state with Townsville already earmarked.
"Goats are a safe and environmentally friendly way to clear overgrown vegetation without the use of heavy machinery or herbicides," QR regional head Scott Cornish said.
"In addition to their extensive chomping experience, they are able to manoeuvre around the most hard-to-reach places, climbing steep and rocky terrain with ease - spots that our heavy machinery simply can't access."
The goats have gone to work in a one-acre, fenced off area near the Tully station and are supervised over CCTV by dedicated carers, a husband and wife team from local business NQ Vegetation Management.
A QR spokesperson said the goats had no complaints, were doing a great job and were ahead of schedule.
"We gave them eight weeks to get that land cleared. At this point they might have it all done in six - it's going well," the spokesperson told AAP.
QR came up with the old-school solution after being inspired by Melbourne Metro Trains' use of goats in 2019.
"We expect the goats to not only keep weeds away, but also make the seeds of the invasive weeds non-viable," Mr Cornish said.
"This will help reduce future vegetation management costs by allowing local native rainforest trees and shrub seeds to germinate and gradually revegetate the whole one-acre area."
