Indian Railways to use drones to monitor its projects and rescue operations

Wednesday January 10, 2018 , 2 min Read

Indian Railways plans on deploying drones to monitor railway projects, operations involving relief and rescue and track maintenance.

This move comes as part of the railways’ plan to use technology to improve efficiency and safety measures involving passengers. According to IANS, in a statement released on Monday, Indian Railways said,

Indian Railways has decided to deploy drone cameras (UAV/NETRA) for various railway activities, especially monitoring and maintenance of tracks and other rail infrastructure. This is in line with the Railways' desire to use technology to enhance safety and efficiency in train operations.

Zonal railways have been given instructions to procure cameras equipped to meet the railways’ demands. The statement further said,

It (drones) shall also be used to assess preparedness of Non-Interlocking (NI) works, crowd management during fairs and melas, to identify scrap and also for aerial survey of station yards.

Railways believe that these drones will be instrumental in providing real-time inputs related to safety and maintenance of tracks and other railway infrastructure.

Drones or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles are flying robots with attached GPS that can be remotely operated. Currently used for defence and surveillance largely, they come in all sizes according to Drone Zon.

There are drones small enough to be released from one’s palm like DJI Spark and the larger ones like predator drones are used for military purposes.

(With inputs from IANS)