Network Rail has started using drones that can fly ‘beyond visual line of sight’ (BVLOS) to improve the speed of detecting faults or trespassers on the track and minimise disruption for passengers.
Trespassers are one of the most significant causes of disruption on the railway – with over 1.5 million minutes in delays since April 2024. The potential to survey the railway safely from above also means that maintenance workers can be dispatched much faster to fix faults.
Alongside firms Drone Major and Dronecloud, Network Rail has set up a drone operations centre in Birmingham as a new trial for infrastructure monitoring. The service has already provided its worth after intervening in an incident at Birmingham New Street last year, which Network Rail said saved passengers hours of disruption.
While the system is being trialled, the drone has to be monitored visually by observers on its flights, although the operator remains at the control point. But last year, the Civil Aviation Authority...